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Syrian government services come to a 'complete halt' as state workers stay home after rebel takeover
Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes. Loosened rules on tiny home construction. Bans on “outing” LGBTQ students and parking near intersections. These are a few California laws that will go into effect in 2025, with broad influence on the Golden State’s economy, schools, streets, environment and workplaces. Here are a few of the most impactful. Amsterdam’s famed cannabis “coffeeshops” are coming to California via Assembly Bill 1775 , which allows dispensaries to serve non-cannabis food and drinks to customers who can relax and smoke on the premises. These new business will officially be known as “cannabis consumption lounges.” San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat, sponsored the law. RELATED: New law could help California renters facing eviction stay in their homes A counterpart in the state Senate, Scott Wiener, also a Democrat, sponsored Senate Bill 969 . The law allows cities to create “entertainment zones” where customers can wander while carrying open alcoholic drinks. Wiener pitched the idea as a tool to revitalize cities by removing “needless restrictions.” “Getting people out in the streets to enjoy themselves is critical for communities across our state to bounce back from the pandemic,” he said in a September statement. A majority of voters passed Proposition 36 in November, which toughens penalties for people repeatedly convicted of shoplifting and drug crimes. It aims to use the threat of jail as leverage to divert more people into behavioral health treatment. The popular new law went into effect on Wednesday. It follows a package of bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in August to crack down on retail theft and other property crimes. Assembly Bill 2602 makes it illegal to use an AI-generated likeness of an actor’s image or voice without their permission. Assembly Bill 1836 also allows a deceased artist’s estate to collect damages when their artificial likeness is used without permission. The pair of bills seek to curb the growing use of AI in Hollywood, which was a sticking point for striking writers and performers last year. With Assembly Bill 1780 , the children of wealthy donors or alumni can no longer get special treatment in admissions decisions by colleges and universities in California, in a practice that disproportionately benefitted white and wealthy students. The law was sponsored by three Democrats, including former Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, now the mayor of Sacramento. Most Republican lawmakers opposed it, along with the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. Public school employees won’t be able to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to their parents — or anyone else — under Assembly Bill 1955 . The law, sponsored by San Diego Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, also protects staff who support LGBTQ students and requires the California Department of Education to provide those students with resources. The law passed on a party-line vote, with Democrats in support and Republicans in opposition and several lawmakers abstaining. History teachers will be required to teach the negative consequences of Spanish colonization and the Gold Rush, and the perspectives of contemporary Native Americans, under Assembly Bill 1821 . Laws introduced by Democrats, who control both chambers of the state Legislature, aim to speed up housing construction and provide more options for unhoused people. Senate Bill 1395 , sponsored by Democratic Menlo Park state Sen. Josh Becker, seeks to ramp up construction of so-called tiny homes by exempting them from the California Environmental Quality Act. The goal? Using tiny homes temporarily to house homeless residents. That’s a strategy embraced by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, though with some controversy . The new law had bipartisan support and faced little opposition from interest groups. California’s Attorney General will have more power to crack down on local governments that flout state housing mandates with Senate Bill 1037 . Sponsored by Wiener, the law allows AG Rob Bonta’s office to fine cities and counties $50,000 per month for violating state housing law. That will make it easier for the state to meet its housing goals when local governments aren’t on board, a spokesperson for Wiener said in March. RELATED: Most medical debt can no longer hurt your credit score under new California law More than 80,000 accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, have been built in California in the last seven years because of laws encouraging them, according to the pro-housing advocacy group California YIMBY. Senate Bill 1211 allows a homeowner to build more detached ADUs on their property than what was previously allowed. The law was sponsored by outgoing Berkeley Sen. Nancy Skinner. Under Assembly Bill 2123 , employers won’t be able to require employees to take two weeks of vacation before accessing California Paid Family Leave benefits. Starting March 1, 2025, Assembly Bill 375 will require food delivery platforms like DoorDash and GrubHub to provide customers with the first name and photo of delivery drivers. Assembly Bill 2475 was introduced after a stabbing in San Francisco by a man with a history of psychosis and violence. The law allows state-run hospitals to delay the release of patients for 30 days if they have a history of severe mental illness and violent crime. The additional time will allow police and public health staff to plan for a patient’s release, Haney said in a March statement. Chula Vista state Sen. Steve Padilla, a Democrat, introduced Senate Bill 1105 to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and the intense heatwaves that have wracked California in recent years. Under the law, farmworkers can use paid sick leave to avoid smoke, extreme heat and also flooding conditions. Avoiding these disasters will be considered “preventative care.” And Assembly Bill 413 aims to protect pedestrians by outlawing parking within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked intersection. The idea, called “daylighting, ” is to make pedestrians more visible and prevent collisions. The law, which can fine violators, is a response to California’s concerning uptick in traffic deaths.Notre Dame Reopens Five Years After FireSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote. The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy that has been closely watched by the world. “The failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means we were not even able to exercise the democratic procedure of deciding on a critical national issue,” he said. Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. There are worries that Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 1/2 years in office because his leadership took a huge hit. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further. If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days. Woo repeatedly urged ruling party members to return to the chamber to participate in the vote, waiting several hours for them to come. At one point, Democratic Party leaders visited a hall on the floor below the main chamber where PPP lawmakers were gathered, attempting to persuade them to vote. After being blocked from entering, they angrily accused the conservatives’ leadership of preventing its lawmakers from voting freely. Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.” “The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.” The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan. Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon’s early exit from office. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.” The passage of Yoon’s impeachment motion appeared more likely Friday when the chair of Yoon’s party called for his removal on Friday, but the party remained formally opposed to impeachment. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people densely packed several blocks of roads leading up to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with lyrics changed to call for Yoon’s ouster. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied in separate streets in Seoul, decrying the impeachment attempt they saw as unconstitutional. Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yoon’s party were seen leaving the hall after that vote, triggering angry shouts from opposition lawmakers. On Friday, PPP chair Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.” Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting. The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law. Kim resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him. Kim Tong-hyung And Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter . His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred a fierce debate by likening Israel’s policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation. And just before his 100th birthday, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with a lifetime achievement award for how he wielded "the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” In one recent work, “A Full Life,” Carter observed that he “enjoyed writing” and that his books “provided a much-needed source of income.” But some projects were easier than others. “Everything to Gain,” a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the “worst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,” an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered “the resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.” Their memories differed on various events and they fell into “constant arguments.” They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them. “In the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a ‘J’ or an ‘R,’ and our marriage survived,” he wrote. Here is a partial list of books by Carter: “Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” “The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East” (With Rosalynn Carter) “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life” “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections” “Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age” “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (With daughter Amy Carter) “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer” “Living Faith” “The Virtues of Aging” “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” “Christmas in Plains: Memories” “The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War” “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis” “Faith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the World” “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” “A Remarkable Mother” “Beyond the White House” “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” “White House Diary” “NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter” “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety”
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote. The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy that has been closely watched by the world. “The failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means we were not even able to exercise the democratic procedure of deciding on a critical national issue,” he said. Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. There are worries that Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 1⁄2 years in office because his leadership took a huge hit. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further. If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days. Woo repeatedly urged ruling party members to return to the chamber to participate in the vote, waiting several hours for them to come. At one point, Democratic Party leaders visited a hall on the floor below the main chamber where PPP lawmakers were gathered, attempting to persuade them to vote. After being blocked from entering, they angrily accused the conservatives’ leadership of preventing its lawmakers from voting freely. Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.” “The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.” The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan. Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon’s early exit from office. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.” The passage of Yoon’s impeachment motion appeared more likely Friday when the chair of Yoon’s party called for his removal on Friday, but the party remained formally opposed to impeachment. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people densely packed several blocks of roads leading up to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with lyrics changed to call for Yoon’s ouster. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied in separate streets in Seoul, decrying the impeachment attempt they saw as unconstitutional. Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yoon’s party were seen leaving the hall after that vote, triggering angry shouts from opposition lawmakers. On Friday, PPP chair Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.” Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting. The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law. Kim resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.
How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 12/27/2024Mist hangs in the air, embracing the giant mosses and clusters of tree orchids that adorn the summit of the majestic Mount Gower on Lord Howe Island. Ascending into this rare island cloud forest is like stepping into a fairytale — a hushed and secret world, carpeted in a tapestry of rich greens, rare palms, and twisted trees veiled in lichens. As the canopy closes over, an otherworldly place emerges, an enchanting reward for those who have made the rugged and arduous climb to the island's highest peak. Above, providence petrels circle and call, while in the shaded, cooler air below, flightless Lord Howe Island woodhens scurry through the ground cover. Remnants of an extinct shield volcano, Mt Gower and the adjacent Mount Lidgbird have stood for millennia as sentinels at the Jurassic-like southern end of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island. Even in clear weather, their summits are often enveloped in clouds, that form as warm, moist ocean winds hit the mountains and are forced to suddenly rise and rapidly cool. "There are not many islands in the world with very tall mountains that stick up so high into the atmosphere they create their own cloud, so it is pretty special," the island's resident biologist and naturalist, Ian Hutton, said. The fragile ecosystem thriving here at altitudes above 750 metres is home to plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet — the combination of a geographical "sky island", sitting atop an earthly one. "Probably 85 per cent of the plants on Mt Gower are only found on Lord Howe Island, and many of those just on the very summit," he said. "Some plants have evolved over millions of years just to live on that summit ... living on those plants are certain species of beetles and snails that have evolved just to live on those plants." Officially known as the Gnarled Mossy Cloud Forest, the ecosystem is classified as a critically endangered ecological community, a known biodiversity hotspot. In recent decades the ecosystem has struggled to survive, threatened by rodents and climate changes. It's five years since a widescale, $15 million eradication program rid the island of more than 300,000 mice and rats. Introduced owl species were also removed from the island, an 11-kilometre-long crescent in the Tasman Sea, 600 kilometres east of Port Macquarie. "The rodent eradication project wasn't about killing rats; it was about actually protecting this environment," Lord Howe Island Board chief executive Suzie Christensen said. "They [rodents] are responsible for five species of bird that became extinct, 13 invertebrates and a lot of critically endangered animals on the island. "Because of our location and small amount of habitat, the rodents were the biggest threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the island ... and the bounce-back has been enormous." Mr Hutton said the program laid the groundwork for a swift and remarkable environmental resurgence, highlighted by the recovery of more than 30 species of threatened flora and fauna, including birds, insects and snails. "We are just now, five years later, seeing the beginning of [an ecological] renaissance of this island," he said. Trek to a paradise reclaimed One man who has held a front-row seat to the environmental transformation is fifth-generation islander Jack Shick. The 63-year-old trekker estimates he has scaled the 875-metre-tall Mt Gower about 2,400 times, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were both mountain guides. "This is my backyard," he said. "I guess where your grassroots are is where your heart is. "It's just amazing the changes that are happening in the forest — it has blown me out of the water really. "I thought it would change but I just can't believe how quickly things have been happening." The trek up Mt Gower involves a rugged climb, and ropes are needed to safely haul the intrepid up steep sections with dramatic drop-offs. Surprisingly tame endemic currawongs watch on quietly from cliff-side trees, as Mr Shick leads a group up the mountain. He regularly stops to marvel at the number of palm seedlings carpeting the forest floor. The critically endangered little mountain palm — a species found only in the cloud forest in an area of less than 4 square kilometres — is thriving now that the rodents have been removed. "There are so many more seeds now from the palms. The rats would have eaten all those seeds," Mr Shick said. "The number of palms coming back now is just unbelievable." So too, he says, is the resurgence in insect and bird populations, including the number of silver eyes, golden whistlers and black-winged petrels. "I have been walking through here since I was a kid, and you think what you're seeing is normal, but now we are starting to see the real normal when things start to recover," he said. From the summit, the island can be seen stretching out below, its coral lagoon sparkling along its western shore. Emulating their distinctive sound, Mr Shick calls providence petrels down from the sky and the large seabirds land nearby. The species nests almost entirely on the island and their nesting grounds on the slopes of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird are now safe from rat predation and owls. The Lord Howe Island Board says in recent years their breeding success has jumped from 2 per cent to 50 per cent. Sights and sounds of recovery One of the most prominent signs of ecological recovery is the prevalence of cheeky, noisy Lord Howe Island woodhens. Once pushed to the brink of extinction and confined to the summit regions of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird, the species is now thriving, scurrying across paths and through forests. Their high-pitched staccato calls form part of the island's unique soundtrack, day and night. In the 1970s, there were fewer than 30 birds left, so a captive-breeding program was started in 1980. Once feral pigs and cats were removed from the island, the woodhen population rose to about 250. It's the removal of egg-eating rodents, though, that has had the biggest impact. "Our Lord Howe Island woodhen numbers have gone from about 200 woodhens five years ago, to over 2,000 now," Mr Hutton said. The island's board reports the woodhens' behaviour has also changed — pairs are now breeding nearly year-round, producing multiple clutches of eggs. Mr Hutton said insect life had also increased remarkably. Earlier this year, while collecting specimens on Mt Gower for the Australian Museum in Sydney, he found a species of beetle that was thought to be extinct. "I was out at night photographing insects and snails," he said. "One of them turned out to be a species of beetle, a type of weevil, that had been declared extinct, and hadn't been collected since 1916. "Yet there it was! I found some on a palm ... so that's very exciting, to think there's a beetle presumed extinct, but it did survive." According to the board, since the eradication of rodents, four of the five endangered land snail species have also been seen more regularly. "They found snails they thought were extinct, and identified 10 new snail species, and found a wood-eating cockroach on the main island for the first time in 80 years," Ms Christensen said. One species, the magnificent helicarionid land snail, only known to live on the upper slopes and summit of Mt Gower, was feared extinct until it was spotted again in 2022. A snail species, had not been seen since 1914 and was considered extinct until it was rediscovered in 2021. 'Canary in the coal mine' Scientists flock to Lord Howe Island, keen to study an environment that was untouched by humans until the late 18th century, when whalers stepped ashore to replenish food and water supplies. Researchers say its isolation makes it an ideal "control" for studies looking into the impacts of climate change. "Lord Howe Island, being this fairly intact ecosystem with 85 per cent of its forest still left, and fairly minimal impact, scientists can come here and study the real world in pretty pristine condition," Mr Hutton said. These include studies of the cloud forest and the world's southernmost coral reef. Professor Lesley Hughes, a climate scientist from the Australian Climate Council, said these rare and fragile environments were proving to be the "canary in the coal mine" for climate change. "As the world is warming up, places like the cloud forest are getting much drier and they basically go into drought and can't exist anymore," Dr Hughes said. "So, the cloud forest here is a really important ecosystem to monitor, to really see how climate change is progressing in vulnerable ecosystems." Mr Hutton, who first arrived on Lord Howe Island in 1980 as a weather observer for the Bureau of Meteorology, has been involved in long-running climate change studies on the island. "For about 15 years we have been putting temperature loggers at 100-metre intervals from sea level up, and a few across the summit," he said. Mr Hutton, an author and photographer, uses drone technology to document changes on the mountain summits photographically. "I am able to aerially map the summit and have a record year after year of changes," he said. "When we have extreme dry years, and the cloud lifts off the mountain, we have seen a fairly significant impact on tree species, not just the small plants. "If the trees die up there and they do fall over, potentially it is letting weeds into that environment, and also just opening up the light, and many plants have evolved to live in the dark shade, and they won't cope with that." Reef studies of global importance Dr Hughes said the island's reef was acting as a similar "canary" highlighting the impacts of climate change on reefs around the globe. In February this year, Lord Howe Island experienced a significant coral bleaching event. "Coral reefs all around the world are really being badly affected by warming oceans," she said. "Our oceans are actually absorbing more than 90 per cent of the extra heat in the Earth's system." Dr Hughes said marine heatwaves were stressing corals and causing them to dispel the symbiotic algae that provided their food source. "If the stress goes on for too long, they bleach and die," she said. Professor Bill Leggat, of the University of Newcastle's School of Environmental and Life Sciences, is part of a team, including staff from the University of New South Wales and the state Department of Primary Industries, which is monitoring the impact of coral bleaching on Lord Howe Island. "When climate predictions suggested corals were going to bleach, we went over in January before the coral bleaching occurred and did some baseline studies and now, we've been back a number of times to follow how severe the bleaching has been," he said. "Lord Howe had a bleaching event in 2010 and 2011, also one in 2019, and now in 2024 ... this event was one of the worst they have recorded. "Some reef areas were having 50 per cent bleaching, which is pretty high." Professor Leggat said there were already signs of recovery on Lord Howe Island's reef, but the warming climate remained a concern. "Unfortunately, corals around the world have been undergoing a bleaching event for the past year. It started in the Northern Hemisphere," he said. "We didn't see coral bleaching events before 1980, so it's very concerning. "When you are seeing these impacts from climate change on Lord Howe Island, which is incredibly isolated, the reef is well-managed and it's not subjected to other stressors ... it's really a worrying sign for all reefs around the world." Professor Leggat said a "greener economy" and reducing other stressors on coral reefs would help preserve them for future generations. "We will continue monitoring the Lord Howe reef and looking at recovery, and that's so we can understand the impact of the bleaching event, what corals have survived, how they have recovered, and give some information for future events," he said. At a local scale, he said, managers and communities could help to protect coral reefs by minimising other stressors, such as damaging runoff and disturbances, and look at better managing fisheries efforts. "Corals are a bit like humans, if they are stressed and have multiple stressors, they get sicker and they die quicker," he said. Former Lord Howe Island ranger turned reef tour operator Dean Hiscox said the island's reef had the distinction of being influenced by tropical, sub-tropical and temperate ocean currents. "It provides this really unique combination of different species that flourish in a pristine, really healthy marine system," he said. These species include the double-header wrasse and a local variety of clownfish. "Not only are they unique and have wonderful characters, but they also provide us with a really good benchmark of reef health," he said. Mr Hiscox takes water temperature readings of the lagoon every day and said he felt helpless in February this year when readings reached the "danger zone" above 26 degrees Celsius, leading to the bleaching event. "For us, that is incredibly sad," he said, before noting that Lord Howe Island had been able to recover from previous bleaching events. "We now know that if we go from an El Niño weather pattern to a La Niña cycle, that will traditionally bring cooler air and ocean temperatures to this region and then we will go into a couple of cooler seasons," he said. "We have seen our reef rebound really, really strongly given enough time for recovery." Environmental stewards Moving forward, the focus is on preserving the unique island environment. Mr Hiscox said sustainability was something the island's 400-strong population "lived and breathed". "There's a good reason it remains so beautiful and unspoilt, and that is because the islanders themselves have taken a strong sense of pride and stewardship in the environment," he said. "It's part of our existence." Lord Howe Island Brewery and Nursery owner Tim Maxwell said business operators also supported the ethos to put environmental protection ahead of profits. "The environment is a lens that we all look through first," Mr Maxwell said. "If you want to have a business interest on the island, you have to think first, 'Well, what impact is that going to have on the island and on the community?' "For me, living here for only seven years, I've really noticed the difference when I go back to Sydney. "Here, the proximity of living so close to what you affect is really a different mindset." The island has reaped the benefits of a decision made in the 1950s to cap visitor numbers to 400 at any one time. It's a tourism model that has prevented the over-development seen in other holiday hotspots on the mainland, and on some popular Australian islands. Community consultation done recently by the Lord Howe Island Board as part of its 10-year strategic plan showed zero appetite for changing the cap. Board chief executive Suzie Christensen said it provided a known quantity to all aspects of island life, including the number of daily flights, waste management, water and power provisions, freight considerations and built infrastructure. "It works well for the island and our capacity to service those needs," she said. "Mainly the island wants to retain the beauty of the place as a fairly unspoilt paradise." To that end, under the island's Local Environment Plan, only 25 houses were approved for construction over the past 10 years, each with a minimum lot size of 3,000 metres squared. A hybrid solar farm that was switched on in 2021 now generates 67 per cent of the island's energy needs, and residents generally rely on tanks for their water. Keeping pests out After all the hard work to help the island recover from the effects of invasive species, biosecurity is paramount. Biosecurity team leader Darryl Birch was involved in implementing the rat eradication program, and now works to ensure the pests do not return. Nothing and no one arrives on Lord Howe Island without being scrutinised by a sniffer dog. The dogs and their handlers carry out biosecurity checks when the island's supply ship leaves Port Macquarie every two weeks, and again when it docks. The same checks are done for every flight that takes off bound for Lord Howe Island, and again after each one lands. Every six weeks the island-based dogs are put to work sniffing out any potential rats, with a "second opinion" gathered every 12 weeks by dogs brought over from the mainland. Mr Birch said these biosecurity measures would be in place indefinitely to protect the island from threats including rodents, insects, reptiles and plant pathogens. "Lord Howe is a country in itself, relative to Australia, so everything from the mainland could potentially become an issue," he said. "We have to be vigilant and the only way we can do that going forward is to use the citizens on the island to keep us informed of what's going on. "There's a huge amount of pressure. It's such a unique and special place, so we have to work hard to protect it." Protecting paradise At a grassroots level, even visitors are doing their part. Travellers to Lord Howe Island step onto an airport tarmac surrounded by endemic Kentia palms and lush fields, with a smell of ocean salt in the air. Most eyes immediately lift southward to the breathtaking mountains. It's easy to get caught up in the drive to protect the place. Sydneysider Ian Sinclair fell in love with the island more than 20 years ago. He joined a volunteer weeding group run by Mr Hutton, which aims to eradicate invasive plants including cat's claw creeper and bitou bush. Mr Hutton started the program in 1995, and since then there have been about 100 weeding eco-tours on the island. "This island is very special in a biodiversity sense so it's really nice to be able to do something to help that in a very simple way," Mr Sinclair said. A lot was on the line when Mr Sinclair later brought his partner John Pemble to Lord Howe. "When I brought John here 14 years ago, it was a bit of a test," he said. "I thought, if he likes it, I'll keep him." A proposal followed at the top of Mt Gower and the pair were married at the island's famous Ned's Beach. They return several times a year and regularly work with the weeding group. Mr Sinclair said it highlighted the value of "people power". "This island is a piece of paradise that needs to be looked after," he said. 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