One degree

Herald Sun
By: Greg Thom

People can convert their unwanted mobile phones into cash and help eliminate a recycling nightmare.

In an Australian first, Mazuma Mobile plans to spend more than $5 million snapping up many of the estimated 16 million unwanted and unloved old phones gathering dust in drawers across the nation.

The company is offering $1.60 for non-working models and up to $650 for a top-flight iPhone.

Established in Britain four years ago by former Melburnian Charlo Carabott, the company has already paid more than $118 million for pre-loved phones in that country.

news.com.au
From correspondents in Geneva
Source: AFP

Climate scientists must urgently look into changes in atmospheric currents linked to devastating floods in Pakistan and wildfires in Russia, UN climate and weather bodies said overnight.

Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Program, said that changes, known as blocking episodes, can prevent humidity or hot weather dispersing.

Herald Sun
From: AAP

Climate change, education and immigration are the top three political issues Australians seek on the internet, new research reveals.

The research tracked online searches by Australians on political issues between May 8 and August 14 this year.

Climate change came out on top, with 0.00077 per cent of all Australian internet searches over the period.

The second most popular election issue search was for education, with 0.0059 per cent of searches.

The Advertiser
By: David Jean
Source: AdelaideNow

Victoria Square's $100 million facelift will include an innovative solar installation that will provide enough green energy to power the square's public lighting.

Plans obtained by The Advertiser reveal two covered walkways, together stretching for nearly 500m, which will be topped by solar technology to provide green energy, while delivering shelter for pedestrians.

The $1.5 million, 150kW solar photovoltaic system will be funded by the Federal Government's Adelaide Solar City project.

The Courier-Mail
By: Brian Williams

Climate change is turning the environment upside-down, with Queensland groper, tiger sharks and even warm-water fish like coral trout being found in Tasmania.

Scientists also have recorded yellowtail kingfish and snapper heading south, while north Queensland barramundi and threadfin salmon are being caught in Moreton Bay off Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Scientists say it shows how climate change is redistributing species.

They have identified 45 species – including 30 per cent of inshore Tasmanian fish families – relocating.

The Australian
By: Paul Kelly and Dennis Shanahan F

Julia Gillard says she is prepared to legislate a carbon price in the next term.

It will be part of a bold series of reforms that include school funding, education and health.

In an election-eve interview with The Australian, the Prime Minister revealed she would view victory tomorrow as a mandate for a carbon price, provided the community was ready for this step.

The Courier-Mail
By: Brian Williams

`The evidence implies that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause' - Professor Kurt Lambeck

Scientists have hit back at climate change sceptics, with a paper affirming the case that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of warming.

The Daily Telegraph
By: Simon Benson and Malcolm Farr

More than 80 per cent of people in NSW want the Federal Government to act on climate change now, according to an exclusive poll suggesting major parties have misread the electoral mood.

The findings revealed a large majority of people want immediate action on climate change, with only 10 per cent believing Australia should wait for the rest of the world to act. Less than 8 per cent supported doing nothing.

The Australian
By: Sid Maher & Patricia Karvelas

Bob Brown vowed to block Tony Abbott's spending cuts but said he would pass climate bills from both parties even if they had no price on carbon.

The Greens leader, campaigning in Adelaide yesterday, also intensified his attack on the mining industry, saying his party wanted uranium mining at the South Australian behemoth Roxby Downs stopped.

The Advertiser

The head of renewable energy company AGL Energy Ltd says a price on carbon is needed to guarantee the security of Australia's energy future.

AGL chief executive Michael Fraser says Australia's resource and energy-focused economy means business and political leaders have to consider the impact of climate change.

Ignoring the issue risks being caught out by changes in global energy consumption patterns, he says.

The Australian
By: Patricia Karvelas, Annabel Hepworth

Federal cabinet will clear the path to an election by deciding tomorrow on the government's new climate change policy -- but ministers are likely to resist calls for an interim carbon tax, with some warning it would be politically risky and even "suicide'' this close to a poll.

The Advertiser
By: staff writers
From: AAP

An experimental solar-powered plane has landed safely after completing its first 24-hour test flight.

The record feat brings it one step closer to the makers' ultimate aim of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.

The plane with its 63-metre wingspan touched down at Payerne airfield about 50km southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at 9am (5pm AEST) today.

The Australian
By: Drew Warne-Smith

Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin has called for a dramatic new approach to combating climate change.

The approach would set an international agreed price on carbon but shun any targets or timetables for emissions reduction.

The Courier-Mail
From: AFP

Scientists at a top British research unit embroiled in a row over climate research have been cleared of dishonesty but their lack of openness was criticised.

Climate change sceptics claimed hacked emails showed the scientists had manipulated and suppressed key data to support a theory of man-made climate change.

The row was sparked when hundreds of emails were hacked from the servers of the University of East Anglia (UEA) in eastern England and posted online.

But the concerns were largely dismissed by the report.

The Australian
From: AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has emphatically ruled out any kind of carbon price before 2012 as she prepares to release a new policy on climate change.

That means no ETS, no carbon tax and no interim carbon levy until then.

Ms Gillard has already announced new approaches to the mining tax and to asylum seekers; climate change is the next cab off the rank for a pre-election policy makeover.

Ms Gillard made her strongest statements on the issue to date in an interview with ABC Television last night.

The Australian
By: Goldie Momen Putrym of Sky News
From: NewsCore

UK music festival goers will be able to charge their mobile phones by stomping their boot-clad feet.

Mobile phone operator Orange launched gum boots which can recharge a handset using a "power-generating" sole, Sky News reported today.

The boots, which were developed by renewable energy experts GotWind, convert heat from the feet into an electrical current.

Twelve hours of fancy footwork could generate enough energy to power a cell phone for one hour.

The Courier-Mail

A new sticker on a bottle of olive oil may kickstart action to give Australian shoppers clear information about the impact on the environment of the products they buy.

The label shows the greenhouse gases generated by a product – including its raw materials and manufacturing process – to allow shoppers to compare emissions as part of buying decisions.

The local arm of German grocery chain ALDI has become the first company in Australia to join the labelling program, which operates in 19 countries and is run here by Planet Ark.

The Gold Coast Bulletin
By: Stephanie Bedo

Going green is not only the trendy thing to do, it can save you big bucks.

With electricity, water and food prices going up, turning to environmentally friendly and cost effective options is not just cool, it cuts day-to-day living costs.

Local environment group Gecko believes the shift in attitude on the Gold Coast will attract people to next weekend’s Green Day Out Festival.

The Cairns Post are pioneering the use of 120W LED IP65 Floodlights in place of 400W halogens in their press room.

The trial, beginning this week, will see the floodlights, which are the equivalent of 2x400W halogens, installed in paper storage areas.

As the lights have no heat-up period, they can be activated by movement sensors, and have great advantages in terms of maintenance, as well as car park lighting.

Northern Territory News

The Territory Government is working towards a cleaner, greener Territory and has implemented several key initiatives for greening the Territory.

The Government's $34 million Northern Territory Climate Change Policy is a comprehensive action plan to combat climate change and ensure the Territory economy is strategically placed as a green resource base into the future.

The Herald Sun
By: Paul Gover

The race to put the first electric production car on Australian roads has been won by Mitsubishi.

A shipment of 40 plug-in iMiEV plug-in cars will land in July and August.

It will lease the battery-powered compact cars for $1740 a month over three years. It intends to take the cars back at the end of the lease, although it could still sell them.

Mitsubishi will beat Tesla, an American electric-car start-up, which also intends to have its plug-in Roadster here this year.

The Herald Sun
By: Chris de Kretser and Daryl Timms

Carlton captain Chris Judd earned his money yesterday in his twin ambassadorial roles.

Judd joined Climate Change Minister Penny Wong to launch a new AFL initiative urging clubs to go green on ground sustainability.

Judd also announced Carlton's "Green Game'' against Melbourne at the MCG tomorrow, when supporters will be encouraged to make a positive pledge to the environment.

And to coincide with World Environment Day, the Auskick teams will be kicking goals through recycling bins instead of posts.

The Advertiser
By: Clare Peddie, Science Reporter

A growing awareness of the need for local action to solve global problems is driving a new green movement.

United Nations Environment Program executive director Achim Steiner says World Environment Day tomorrow is a chance to celebrate people power.

"Ultimately, history has been made by people who make change possible,'' he said. "It begins with individuals, it gathers communities and ultimately becomes a movement that can make a difference.''

The Australian
By: Christian Kerr

Australians have given the Rudd government a fail grade for its handling of refugees, a borderline pass on climate change and mediocre marks for its response to the global financial crisis in this year's Lowy Institute survey of public opinion and foreign policy.

Asked to give the government a mark out of 10 for its handling of various foreign policy issues, Australians awarded Kevin Rudd and his ministers a poor 4/10 for their response to the arrival of asylum-seekers by boat.

The Australian
Source: AAP

Former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull admits the Coalition has only a "theoretical'" chance of meeting its emission reduction targets by 2020.

But that's still better than the Government, who had nothing but a "great, big, yawning chasm in its climate change policy suite".

Mr Turnbull, who was dumped as leader last year so the party could withdraw its support for emissions trading, said the Coalition now had the better climate change credentials.