The recently released white paper on developing northern Australia ignores an elephant in the room: climate change. While the paper sees a bright future for the north (roads, rail, dams and food), without considering climate change we can’t be sure the north will even be liveable.
Pope Francis has made a strong call to action on climate change.
AAP/Fabrizio Belluschi
Tony Abbott gets some lucky breaks. Imagine if Pope Francis had issued [this week’s encyclical - with its clarion call for the world to address climate change - last year in the run up to the G20 hosted by Australia.
The papal encyclical challenges leaders to take action on climate change.
AAP/Fabrizio Belluschi
The immediate importance of the Pope Francis’ encyclical comes from its potential to influence world leaders and galvanise the developing world ahead of the Paris Climate Conference this year.
Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I’ve always found it a bit difficult to take men who go to work wearing silk dresses, lots of jewellery, and improbably large hats terribly seriously. Plenty of people…
Laudato Si’ challenges us to examine the root causes of environmental ills and injustices.
Max Rossi/Reuters
The pope’s encyclical turns climate change into a moral discussion by focusing on the disproportionate impact of climate change on poor countries and regions.
Last week’s G7 meeting showed that turning our backs on fossil fuels altogether is no longer a fringe idea.
Michael Keppeler/EPA/AAP Image
Advocates of climate action have been saying it for years - we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels completely. And now, the leaders of the world’s richest countries have started saying the same.
A first: limits on carbon emissions from power plants.
booleansplit/flickr
Despite looming legal challenges, states are devising plans to comply with limits on power plant carbon emissions – a crucial part of Obama’s climate policies.
Science denial can come in many forms, but you need to be careful when debunking it.
Bryan Rosengrant/Flickr
Climate warming is predicted to intensify rainfall patterns. But new research suggests this could even happen within individual storms, as warmer weather makes them more likely to contain short intense bursts.
New data set includes more accurate data from the Arctic, where more warming has occurred.
NASA
Species facing the blitz of accelerating, human-driven change don’t always cope well. Birds are among the most visible windows into this world of vulnerability.
How are we helping their children’s children?
Everett Kennedy Brown / EPA
Climate change models predict higher chances of severe rain for Texas and other places in the US, but linking climate and extreme weather is still an immature science, says Texas state climatologist.
