Tom Kelly

  • Hazards in the food trade

    Completion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has brought agricultural trade into the agreement. This will further integrate Australia's food industry into the world market. The

  • Ocean dumping makes waves

    A large protest movement has sprung up in Tasmania in response to last month's extension of the permit allowing Pasminco Metals-EZ to continue dumping toxic waste into the ocean. Actions so far have included an angry march and rally

  • Plastic is poison

    A worker using a wooden stick presses plastic bundles into a hopper, where it melts into a grey mass. The plastic is mixed with a colouring agent and tipped into a moulding machine, where it is formed into coat hangers. Nearby,

  • Toxic exports: the international waste trade

    In response to pollution scandals and toxic disasters, in the 1980s the rich industrialised countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) adopted relatively strict regulations governing the disposal

  • Senators declare forests 'World Heritage'

    Senators declare forests 'World Heritage'In a ceremony at Hensleigh Creek on February 5, Greens (WA) Senator Christabel Chamarette, Democrat Senator Sid Spindler and members of the East Gippsland Forest Alliance (EGFA)

  • The obstacles to action

    The depletion of the ozone layer is a problem of our own making and potentially under our control. When we look at the seriousness of the problem, however, it's clear that governments are still approaching it in a half-hearted

  • Skin cancer in the sunburnt country

    Two out of three Australians will develop skin cancer over their lifetime. This is the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world, and it is increasing. Recent figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show a

  • Ozone depletion — causes and consequences

    Ozone depletion in the stratosphere, a layer of the atmosphere that extends from 10 to 50 kilometres above the earth's surface, is caused by the presence of chlorine and bromine. These are released by industrially produced

  • The ecological impact of burning

    A key question in the bushfire debate is the relationship of fire to the ecology of the Australian bush. Perspectives on this question are crucial in assessing the role of burning in any fire management strategy, and in any

  • Bushfire disaster: who's really to blame?

    The people of New South Wales are looking back on the state's most serious bushfire crisis for 50 years. Yet with many fires still burning, what is usually the worst part of the bushfire season is still to come. The fires have