Spring is the season of blooming flowers and buzzing bees.
It’s also the time of year when birds are breeding and raising fluffy little chicks. Between September and November these baby birds, also known as fledglings, learn to fly and eventually leave the nest.
You may well have encountered one of these bedraggled, slightly confused birds on a neighbourhood stroll – perhaps a magpie lark, red wattlebird or willie wagtail.
You might instinctively try to rescue it, but this may do more harm than good.
What is fledgling season?
A fledgling willie wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) sitting on a post, next to a busy beach path in Western Australia.Holly Kirk
In Australia, peak bird breeding typically falls between September and November. This is when food is most plentiful, making it easier for busy bird parents to feed their chicks.
We are now in fledgling season, the time when young birds leave the nest to learn to fly and forage. As spring rolls into summer, chicks of all species start to spread their wings. But many seem to start this journey before they’ve passed all their flying tests. Fledgling birds are like teenagers: they’re allowed to be out by themselves but still depend on mum and dad to provide meals and stay close by.
Fledgling birds have plumage that looks similar to adult birds. But they often have the odd fluffy patch of feathers and look a bit untidy. Much like pimply faced teenagers, this in-between stage is a natural part of bird development. When it comes to flying, fledgling birds generally have enough adult feathers to get off the ground but just need more practice.
The dangers of ‘bird-napping’
People often think fledgling birds need rescuing because they can pop up in unusual places – in front of your driveway or balancing on short shrubs, for instance. But not every young bird needs help. In fact, this can lead to “bird-napping”, where a person sees a young bird on the ground, assumes it is lost or injured, and takes it.
These birds are practising their flying and foraging behaviours for the first time. Given they are still a little clumsy or don’t have a good map of their neighbourhood, it can be hard for them to get back to their nests.
Bird-napping can be incredibly harmful to birds. Removing a fledgling from its habitat may disrupt its natural development and deprive it of much-needed food, as it is likely still being fed by its parents. Adult birds may think their chick has been eaten and even decide to breed somewhere else next year, changing the local bird population.
If a bird is sitting somewhere risky, such as on a road, path or near a park with pets, approach slowly and it will likely fly away.
If it doesn’t move, you can pick it up and place it in the nearest patch of vegetation, ideally off the ground. Make sure to use gloves or a soft cloth, washing your hands thoroughly before and after handling any birds.
If the bird appears to be injured, it’s best to call a wildlife carer or rescue organisation to first ask for advice.
An Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) fledgling.Holly Kirk
If you see a bird covered only in very soft downy feathers or pin feathers resembling tiny spikes or quills, you have found a nestling.
Nestlings are younger birds that can’t fly, have few or no feathers and remain totally dependent on their parents for survival. These birds won’t last long outside the protection of the nest.
If you can see and reach a nestling’s nest, place the bird back in it, taking care with hygiene. If you can’t see a nest, the next best thing is to put the chick on a stable, wide branch as high as you can reach. This will allow its parents to find it. You can even make a substitute nest from a small box, or a food container lined with paper towel, to hang in a nearby tree.
It’s very likely its parents are hiding nearby, calling to their nestling or perhaps even scolding you. If this happens, try to place the bird as near to the calling birds as possible.
Importantly, don’t feed the bird or give it water, as this can damage their delicate mouths and throats. It may even suffocate and kill them.
For extra support, you can call a local wildlife carer, wildlife organisation or veterinarian for guidance. They can give you specific instructions for how to handle and transport a hatchling (a naked baby bird usually with closed eyes), nestling, fledging or injured bird. Support is available in different states and territories, including through:
Spring is the perfect time to learn about your local birds – and even witness them raising their young. In most cases, it’s best to let birds live and learn to fly by themselves. You can also help them thrive by growing native plants in your garden and being a responsible pet owner.
It’s the build-up in northern Australia – the time of year when heat and humidity get worse ahead of the wet season. Common phrases such as “going troppo” or “mango madness” give a sense of the effects. Tempers fray and tensions rise.
There’s now emerging evidence that humidity makes heat more dangerous. Humid heatwaves – where high temperatures combine with high humidity – are potentially more dangerous than dry heatwaves.
Elsewhere in the world, humid heatwaves are already claiming lives. Over 1,300 pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia in 2024 due to lethal levels of humidity and heat, while India and Pakistan have also been hard hit.
Our recent research in the Northern Territory found more people came to emergency departments during intense humid heatwaves than comparable dry heatwaves.
The problem is, we’re not warning people about this combined threat. Australia’s heatwave warning systems focus only on temperature – not on humidity.
Official warnings about heatwaves often focus on the temperature but don’t yet include humidity.Northern Territory Government
Why humidity matters
Intense heat stresses the body. Humidity can make this worse.
The human body relies heavily on sweating to regulate temperature. When sweat evaporates from the skin, it removes heat and helps keep the body cool. When humidity is high, evaporation doesn’t work as well and it’s harder for the body to release heat and stay cool.
Humid conditions can boost the risk of heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke, worsen existing heart and lung conditions and put more strain on the bodies of people with chronic diseases.
High humidity can also contribute to poor sleep, reducing the body’s ability to recover during prolonged hot periods.
Hot and wet conditions also provide optimal conditions for mosquitoes, ticks and parasites, which are vectors for the spread of key tropical diseases. Mould, bacteria and viruses are more likely to grow in high humidity, increasing the risk of lung and skin disease.
What we found in the Northern Territory
The top third of the Northern Territory has a monsoonal coastal climate prone to humidity, while the two thirds inland is arid. This means we can analyse and compare humid and dry heatwaves across these environments.
Our study analysed more than two decades of emergency department data across the NT to see if dry heat or humid heat affected the numbers of people needing emergency care. We used a temperature-based index for dry heat and a combined temperature and relative humidity index to determine humid heat.
The results were clear. While more people sought emergency treatment during both dry and humid heatwaves, humid heatwaves were worse. Severe and extreme dry heatwaves led to 4.4% more hospital visits, while similar humid heatwaves saw 6.1% more people attending emergency departments.
When arid areas of the Territory were hit by humid heatwaves, the effect was even clearer – emergency visits rose 8.7%.
Where are the warnings?
In many parts of northern Australia, heatwaves are projected to become more frequent and intense due to global warming.
Every summer, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology issues heatwave warnings to give people advance notice of three or more days of unusual heat over day and night. Warnings can be issued for mild, severe and extreme heatwaves.
These warnings are vital. They let people prepare for heat and change plans, while health services can boost staffing numbers.
The problem is, these warnings are largely based on temperature. Most people can tolerate a 35°C day with low humidity. But a 35°C day with high humidity is much harder for us to cope with.
This means the current system may not be warning Australians about a real risk to their health – especially those in tropical and coastal regions.
Dry and wet heatwaves will put more pressure on health systems already struggling during extreme weather. Even a modest increase in patients will add more pressure on staffing, bed capacity and resources.
We’ve long known heat affects some people much more than others. Children, older adults, people with chronic diseases and those in disadvantaged communities are hit harder. In the Territory, low-quality housing, poor access to healthcare and outdoor work and recreation also boost risks from heat.
Authorities often focus on disasters such as cyclones and floods – but humidity and heat are an often overlooked threat.BJP7images/Getty
Time to redefine heatwaves
It’s no longer enough to define a heatwave using temperature alone. Across northern Australia, humidity directly affects how people experience a heatwave.
Climatologists are already exploring ways to include humidity in measures of dangerous heat.
To take the threat of humid heat seriously, we need to redefine heatwaves to include humidity and temperature. This will strengthen our early warning systems.
On a practical level, we need to prepare our health systems for more demand during severe humid heat, particularly in remote and tropical regions.
As the Top End prepares for another wet season, authorities will focus on the threats of cyclones, flooding and other visible weather threats. It’s time to look at a less visible danger – the combination of heat and humidity.
Alyson Wright received funding for this research from the Australian and Northern Territory governments through the Northern Territory Risk Reduction Program. Funders had no involvement in the study's design, data collection, interpretation of data and writing of the article.
Sharon Campbell receives funding from the Healthy Environments And Lives Global Research Network, which receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Mark de Souza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Is your new phone already slowing down or your expensive earphones acting up?
You’re not imagining it. Our products are no longer designed to last, with some barely working a few years before ending up in landfill.
Shortening the lifespan of a product is a strategy known as planned obsolescence.
My new research takes a closer look at this concept and argues that, by strengthening existing laws, it is possible to make products that last while reducing costs for consumers and the environment.
The global population is on track to produce 82 million tonnes of e-waste by 2030.Ladislav Kubeš/Getty
Mountains of e-waste
Modern devices like laptops and smartwatches are made of a combination of rare materials, toxic substances and flammable batteries, such as mercury and arsenic. When released into the environment, these toxic chemicals can pollute the soil and waterways.
This should make us think twice about throwing out broken devices. Yet, Australians produce almost three times the global average of electronic waste, known as e-waste. Globally, we generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste by 2022. That amount could fill more than one million trucks, about enough to wrap around the earth’s equator. E-waste worldwide is set to rise by another 32%, reaching 82 million tonnes by 2030.
In Australia, reducing waste must be a priority if we’re to meet our net zero goal and transition to a circular economy, where our belongings are reused, repaired or recycled instead of piling up in landfill.
Planned obsolescence is one way technology companies pull people into a loop of constant consumption. When our new device quickly breaks, we simply buy a new one.
But planned obsolescence is one problem with many facets.
For starters, companies can design products that aren’t sustainable. Think wireless earphones with batteries that quickly break down. Their design can make it very difficult to replace the battery, making them “disposable gadgets” once they’re unable to hold a charge.
Manufacturers may also make it harder to repair their products. For instance, parts of a device can be glued together so it can’t be taken apart and repaired. What’s more, some companies require a repairer to be “authorised” to get access to the parts, software locks or information needed to repair a specific product. You can try and fix a device yourself, but repair manuals can be subject to copyright and manufacturers may prevent third parties from sharing them online.
Beyond the actual product, there’s the behavioural side of planned obsolescence. Technology companies regularly update models so your current device quickly looks out of date, a strategy known as psychological obsolescence. Companies use advertising to convince you to buy their latest product and market newer devices as status symbols, such as a smartphone with accessories that are only compatible with the “new generation” of phones.
Planned obsolescence is typically viewed as a company strategy.
In Europe, consumer associations launched a complaint against Nintendo for premature obsolescence, claiming its Nintendo Switch controllers were quickly becoming unresponsive. After the European Commission and other authorities contacted Nintendo, the company agreed to offer free repairs.
The federal court of Australia ordered Apple to pay A$9 million for making false or misleading representations to iPhone users affected by a software fault about their rights to have their device repaired or replaced under the Australian Consumer Law. These rights don’t simply stop applying because your phone has been repaired by a third party.
But planned obsolescence is not necessarily the fault of any one person or company. Rather, it’s the result of our current produce-and-consume system. Fixing such a complex, systemic problem will require intervention from various sectors, including product design, consumer law, competition law and intellectual property law.
We must also factor in consumer behaviour. After all, it’s ultimately the consumer who decides whether a broken product goes to a repair shop, in the junk drawer or straight in the bin. But consumers can’t always make an informed decision. For example, a person may be forced to replace a product because they can’t afford to repair it.
Stronger laws are key to ensuring products last. However, it’s difficult to change legislation. What’s more, lawmakers often fail to recognise the many aspects of planned obsolescence.
Consider Australia’s first right to repair law. This legislation aims to help people repair their vehicles more easily and at a lower price. This is a win for motorists, who would otherwise be forced to go to authorised dealerships.
The government recently asked for public feedback on whether the law should be expanded to agricultural machinery. But there has been no discussion about repairing devices and other everyday products. Importantly, this law doesn’t address what happens to products that simply can’t be fixed or help consumers tell if a product can be repaired before they buy it.
The European Union has made some progress. New rules aim at making all products placed on the EU market sustainable by design. It has also introduced a right to repair law with stronger rules around certain electronics, including mobile phones and washing machines, and a reparability score to help consumers choose fixable products.
We know our devices don’t last forever. But too often they break down in a few short years or even months, leaving consumers with little choice but to throw them away. It’s time Australia tightened its laws around planned obsolescence – for the sake of people’s hip pockets and the planet.
Margherita Feleppa is a lecturer at the University of Wollongong. This article is based on Margherita's recent paper, which builds on her PhD research. Her PhD was the result of a collaborative research program between the University of Roma Tre and the University of Technology Sydney. She received a European Union-linked PhD scholarship for the promotion of green objectives.
The BLVD is home to 250 enterprises, from banks, tattoo shops and restaurants to museums and a performing arts centre
Passing through the Mojave desert on State Route 14, going by landscapes Hollywood uses to represent alien planets, a driver might not expect to find a walkable, tree-lined boulevard.
But there are nine beautiful, leafy blocks on West Lancaster Boulevard, a piece of what used to be Highway 14. They were redeveloped as part of a mixed-use urban streetscape in the city of Lancaster, California in 2010.
The BLVD, as it’s been rebranded, is home to 250 public and private enterprises, from banks, tattoo shops and restaurants to museums, a performing arts centre and a public library. City Hall is just a block south.
The city invested $11.5m (£8.5m) to transform a busy thoroughfare into an inviting public space. The three lanes in the centre of the former five-lane road were replaced by a series of tree-lined ramblas – Spanish for “avenue” and “watercourse,” because dry stream beds served as streets in early cities.
The redesign was planned and funded by the city of redevelopment agency. Within four years of completion, it had generated more than $270m in economic output, attracted $130m in investment, created hundreds of jobs and prompted the building or renovation of hundreds of housing units, according to the city.
The revitalisation has also created more intangible benefits, residents say. The city centre the feels like a gathering space, they said — somewhere where they can feel like part of a community.
Australia relies on diesel to move freight, run mines and harvest crops. We’re now the world’s top importer of seaborne diesel, importing around 28 billion litres of the fuel last year.
Diesel is the fuel most exposed to the ongoing US–Iran war as it’s the biggest export product for Persian Gulf refineries. Last year, Russia was the world’s biggest diesel exporter. But Ukrainian drones have now damaged many Russian refineries, making supplies scarcer. This year’s turmoil has shown the risks and costs of this dependency.
In Australia, diesel prices have gone as high as A$3.20 a litre this year. Prices remain very high at around $2.79 a litre – almost a dollar more than this time last year.
Between March and August, Australia paid an extra A$9 billion to import diesel, according to the Climate Council – more than twice as much as any other country, or about $324 for every Australian.
Wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have done more than drive prices higher. They have redrawn the global map of buyers and sellers.
My analysis of over 21,000 diesel shipments since January 2025 exposes the shift. Exports from the Gulf have largely vanished and Russian exports have collapsed. Refineries in the United States and Asia are filling the gap.
Two big suppliers knocked out
On February 28, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. This blocked most crude and diesel shipments through the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia was able to keep exporting diesel from its refineries on the Red Sea. But this lifeline is fragile, as recent drone strikes on its East-West pipeline proved.
Russia was the world’s largest diesel exporter in 2025, shipping about 734,000 barrels a day. But diesel exports began falling sharply in July as Ukrainian drone strikes took refineries offline. Moscow was forced to ban most diesel exports to preserve local stocks.
By October, Russia supplied just 2% of the diesel arriving at ports worldwide – a sharp fall from last year’s figure of 12%.
America stepped in, Asia stepped up
The gap in supply has largely been filled by the United States. My analysis shows the US exported about 50% more diesel between April and October than its 2025 average. As of October, the US is the world’s top diesel exporter.
Before the US–Iran war, Asian refineries, including India’s, shipped about 28% of seaborne diesel. In October, that figure had risen to almost 40%.
These refineries are also finding new customers.
In October, Asian refiners supplied about 38% of sub-Saharan Africa’s diesel imports, up from 22% before the war. Over the same period, the Gulf’s share of that market fell from 44% to 24%.
Europe has changed too. India and Saudi Arabia are now the largest suppliers of diesel to Europe and the Mediterranean after the United States.
Closer to home, China supplied almost half of Singapore’s diesel imports in October, up from about 12% before the war.
Asian refineries have had to change suppliers of crude oil to keep running. Before the war, 57% of Asia’s seaborne crude came from the Middle East. But that share has fallen to about 40%, while Russian, American and Latin American oil has filled the gap.
What do these shifts mean for Australia?
In 2025, Australia bought almost 8% of all diesel traded by sea. Arrivals have remained steady this year despite rapid shifts in suppliers. Between March and October, around 488,000 barrels per day have arrived (about 78 million litres a day).
Global disruptions this year have led to a narrower supply chain.
In 2025, about 46,000 barrels of Indian diesel arrived per day. But none has arrived since July this year, despite official efforts to shore up fuel security.
Australia is buying much more diesel from South Korea. In 2025, South Korea supplied 29% of diesel imports. By October 2026, that figure was almost half. Australia now buys over a third of all South Korean diesel exports.
This doesn’t reduce Australia’s vulnerability. South Korean refineries get more than half their crude oil from the Middle East, much of it loaded at ports outside the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of South Korean crude is now imported from the US.
If Middle Eastern supplies tighten or Korean refiners find better prices elsewhere, Australia will feel it.
Questions remain about how reliable the US is as a diesel supplier, given President Donald Trump floated a possible diesel export ban in September to rein in soaring domestic prices, before ruling it out in October. Because the US is the world’s largest exporter, any pullback would tighten the market Australia buys from.
What about the Russia–US deal?
On October 9, Trump unexpectedly announced a deal with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
In return for the lifting of US sanctions on Russian diesel, Russia would ship a total of 1.8 million tonnes (13 million barrels) of diesel to the US. The first cargo left on October 22.
This figure is less than three weeks of Russia’s pre-war exports. It’s unclear whether Russia can spare the diesel. Ukraine briefly paused its refinery strikes under US pressure, but resumed within days, hitting a major Russian refinery at Yaroslavl this week.
But at present, Australia competes with European and Latin American buyers for diesel from Asian refineries. If more Russian diesel crosses the Atlantic, those buyers would compete less intensely for Asian cargoes, which could ease supply and prices here.
What’s next?
The past eight months show how fast supply chains can reroute. It took just weeks for the Gulf to lose its markets, while Asian refineries found new customers in Africa and the Mediterranean almost overnight.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has picked up, but there were 29 attacks on merchant ships in the first three weeks of October – more than in any full month since March.
Australia can’t assume diesel suppliers will stay loyal – or reliable. It’s sensible to broaden suppliers and, as I’ve argued, rapidly boost diesel storage to buy time.
Policymakers and business leaders must rapidly reduce our reliance on diesel. Electric buses and delivery trucks are arriving, while some major miners are electrifying trains and haul trucks. Where batteries can’t yet do the job, Australian gas could. Reducing diesel demand is our best long-term protection.
Lurion De Mello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
