Daily News Roundup

Cancer Council calls for Australian review amid Roundup cancer concerns

Australia’s peak cancer body is calling for an independent review into the world’s most popular weedkiller, which has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Cancer Council Australia is concerned there has not been an independent or formal review of the chemical glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — in more than two decades.

The chemical is the most widely used herbicide on the planet and is popular with home gardeners and farmers in Australia.

In 2015, the World Health Organisation body, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

“We are concerned that this issue’s not being taken seriously enough in Australia, particularly by the agricultural industry,” Cancer Council Australia CEO Dr Sanchia Aranda said.

“The IARC report is independent and does suggest that there is absolutely a reason for concern.”

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Coal must go to save Great Barrier Reef, IPCC says in dire climate warning

Australia and the rest of the world must virtually eliminate the use of coal for electricity within 22 years if there is to be a chance to save even some of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s most authoritative climate science body has warned.

In a report authored by more than 90 scientists, and pulling together thousands of pieces of climate research, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global emissions of greenhouse gas pollution must reach zero by about 2050 in order to stop global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

At current rates, they said 1.5C would be breached as early as 2040, and 2C would be breached in the 2060s.

If that happens, temperatures over many land regions would increase by double that amount. And at 2C of warming, experts said the world would risk hitting “tipping points”, setting the world to uncontrollable temperatures.

With the world already 1C warmer than pre-industrial times, experts said this report, released by the IPCC in Incheon, Korea today, was likely the last warning before it would be impossible to keep warming at 1.5C.

“We’re not on track, we’re currently heading for about 3 degrees to 4 degrees of warming by 2100,” report contributor Professor Mark Howden from ANU said.

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Opera House advertisement defended as NSW Premier stands firm on ‘good taste’ design

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended her decision to allow an advertisement for a racing event be projected on the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday night, saying the image “will be in good taste”.

Speaking on Monday morning on the decision that has sparked mass debate across the country, Ms Berejiklian said “all sides of politics” supported the decision.

She said the people should “wait and see” what images were used before they rushed to judgement.

“It is done in good taste,” the Premier said.

“It’s incredibly toned down from previous versions.”

“It’s important for us to promote our major events (and) I believe the tomorrow evening strikes that right balance.”

The Premier’s comments came as an online petition opposing the decision clicked over 150,000 signatures just after midday on Monday.

The petition, led by Sydney resident Mike Woodcock, calls on the NSW Government and Racing NSW to stop turning the Opera House into a “promotional billboard”.