In this issue

	ECOS Issue 174

Features

Is the carbon tax a habit-breaking moment? Everyday lifestyle choices involving energy consumption are driven by habit, says psychology professor, Bas Verplanken. Nicola Markus asks if there are times when breaking old habits and making new ones is easier, and wonders if the introduction of Australia's carbon tax is such a moment. Learn more

Life in our oceans is changing rapidly: latest audit A new ‘report card' issued by a team of leading scientists from across Australia demonstrates that climate change is already having significant impacts on our marine ecosystems. Learn more

Heinz Schandl: sense and sustainability CSIRO’s Dr Heinz Schandl has a background in sociology and economics. As he explains to ECOS, his research focus is not so much on the role of the individual in sustainable development, as the social structures or institutions that determine how we interact as individuals. Learn more

‘Yes we can’: planetary declaration to seize the moment
In March this year, around 3000 people attended the Planet Under Pressure conference in London. Another 3500 followed the proceedings on-line. The conference inspired the publication of over 400 news articles worldwide in 15 languages and its impact still reverberates in the media, online discussions and policy circles. Mark Stafford Smith, Science Director of CSIRO's Climate Adaptation Flagship, co-chaired the conference.
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Ecologists spring a trap for rice-loving rats CSIRO scientists have long known of the link between rodent breeding and rice cropping, especially in countries where rice is a staple. Now, they have used this understanding to develop an ecologically based management approach for keeping rats at bay – an approach that eliminates the use of costly baits and poisons. Learn more

Nature's weapons in the war on weeds It has been fifty-two years since publication of the last scientific book on biological weed control in Australia. This makes Biological Control of Weeds in Australia – published just ahead of the fiftieth anniversary of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring – a timely and valuable contribution to the field of environmental management. Learn more