Nathanael Melia, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The recent Port Hills fires highlight the increasing wildfire risks caused by climate change. Reducing the threat is going to take a shift in strategy, investment and community engagement.
The best strategy to protecting Earth’s coral reefs is to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions. But in the meantime, we must urgently make corals more resilient.
Australian vehicle emissions are even worse than official figures show and are likely to fall even further behind the rest of the world unless much more ambitious policies are adopted.
One of the world’s largest programs to eradicate multiple predators and pests has started to restore the island and its once vast nesting colonies to their former glory.
We’re all familiar with fire. But do you really know what it is and how it starts? Here’s the chemistry of fire – and why Australia is so prone to going up in flames.
Exposure to asbestos can cause the same cancer in dogs as it does in humans. Recent cases of asbestos-contaminated mulch highlight the need to better protect our pets.
There are two approaches to producing low-emission hydrogen, and public acceptance (or rejection) of each method will be important for hydrogen and its place in the energy transition.
We sampled sewage sludge from 13 wastewater treatment plants across three states. We found every resident adds microplastics to farmland, in dried sewage sludge (biosolids) used as fertiliser.
As other nations race to restructure their economies in line with a low-carbon future, Australia risks being left behind. An economy-shaping tax on fossil fuels is a conversation we must have.
We’re going to build a lot more solar as we race to clean up the grid. But as the world heats up, solar will degrade faster in hot, humid areas. We need to plan ahead.
The ‘20°C effect’ could give us new insights into how temperature controls ecosystems and influences evolution – as well as how species might adapt to climate change.
Climate change is increasing the risks of extreme heat, floods and bushfires, meaning more people are having to consider moving home. But different people come to different decisions.
It’s a horror story unfolding in the west that could sweep across the country. Beware the shot-hole borer, an exotic pest that threatens our tree crops, plantations, urban forests and wild places.
Australia’s Soft Plastics Taskforce has been under pressure to fill the vacuum left by the demise of REDcycle. But this time the small trial announced for Melbourne has the potential to succeed.
The native red admiral is less common than it used to be, but we can all help threatened bug species by ensuring they have the right habitats to thrive in.
The event has prompted questions about the reliability of the state’s electricity grid. But it’s important to note these extreme winds would have seriously disrupted any power system.
Timothy Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
By moving to scrap the Auckland regional fuel tax, the government continues a decades-long pattern of transport policy U-turns that leave the city – and country – without a sustainable way forward.
Survey respondents overwhelmingly prioritised saving a human life – even if that person had been repeatedly told to evacuate and even if, as a consequence, a snail or shrub species became extinct.
Wildebeest herds churning dust. Sturgeon seeking spawning grounds. Shorebirds flying from Siberia. These iconic animal migrations could soon be a memory.