Scotland announces moratorium on fracking for shale gas  (Guardian, Jan 28)

Gloucester CSG suspension: NSW vows investigation after banned chemicals found at site  (ABC, Jan 28)

Council objects to oil-block process (The Press, Jan 27) – “The Christchurch City Council … said it was “deeply concerned” that offshore areas in which high-risk petroleum exploration activities could occur were being proposed in the absence of public consultation. …”

MPs: Ban fracking to meet carbon targets (BBC, Jan 26)

The oceans are warming so fast, they keep breaking scientists’ charts (Guardian, Jan 22)

Graph above: NOAA once again has to rescale its ocean heat chart to capture 2014 ocean warming

What the UK could learn from the New York fracking ban  (Guardian, Jan 19) -‘“I will be bound by what the experts say,” said Cuomo, likening fracking to passive smoking, which wasn’t fully understood as a health risk for many years.’ NZ should be learning too!

Earth pushed to breaking point  (South China Morning Post, Jan 17) – ‘…we have already crossed four “planetary boundaries”. …the extinction rate; deforestation; the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; and the flow of nitrogen and phosphorous (used on land as fertiliser) into the ocean… What the science has shown is that human activities – economic growth, technology, consumption – are destabilising the global environment,” said lead author Will Steffen’… Original paper in Science here.

Plummeting oil price casts shadow over fracking’s future  (Guardian, Jan 6)