Why get worked up about our climate responsibilities when Australia’s contribution to global emissions – around 1.5% of the total - is small? Here is the usual reply. Australia’s domestic greenhouse gas…
As Australia gears up for another risky bushfire season this summer, some of its most iconic and valuable forests are at risk. Giant eucalpytus trees rely on fire to regenerate, but an increase in major…
I am writing with Hurricane Sandy having brought devastation to New York and the East coast of the United States. Much has been written on the politics of climate change. But until a few days ago, a severe…
As I write this, the worst coastal flooding effects from Hurricane Sandy’s attack on the densely populated regions of the US northeast are almost over. Even so, the effects have been significant: record…
Are we now experiencing the “new normal” climate? Let’s look at the recent evidence: A storm of historic proportions is moving up the east coast as a Nor’easter without precedent, since no such storm has…
A small slice of Antarctica turns up along your coastline each year. We’re all glad it’s just a small slice, given Antarctica could deliver a total sea-level rise of 59 metres. That’s not going to happen…
Climate change will place increasing pressure on Australia’s natural environments in the future. Queensland is no exception. CSIRO and the Queensland Government recently conducted an in-depth review and…
The risk with climate change is not with the direct effect of humans on the greenhouse capacity of Earth’s atmosphere. The major risk is that the relatively modest human perturbation will unleash much…
Climate change has been widely recognised by leading public health organisations and prestigious peer reviewed journals as the the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. A recently released…
Marine cloud brightening: it’s a concept that has been floated in climate engineering discussions for some time. But what are the moral implications of this geoengineering technology, and how likely is…
The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years, and it could halve again by 2022 say researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. A study published today in the…
Climate change has been significantly absent from the US presidential election campaign. President Obama, who made climate change a key plank of his 2008 campaign, has not been anywhere near as vocal in…
We have unwittingly hardwired a bushfire ignition source throughout our flammable landscapes – powerlines. Powerlines can fail under any conditions but the risk increases on days of high bushfire risk…
Around the clock solar power could be a reality for Australians in the foreseeable future, but experts say a hostile state government stands in the way of Queensland becoming the solar power leader suggested…
Climate change will lead to significant human displacement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other groups warn that the effects – including rising sea levels, heavier floods, more…
The linear nature of global warming trends projected by the IPCC since 1990 and as late as 2007 (see Figure 1) has given the public and policy makers an impression there is plenty of time for economies…
A combination of 33-year satellite records, measurements made over the past century, and long-term proxy analysis suggests Arctic sea ice may be at its lowest level for more than 1,000 years. According…
Within decades, environments across Australia will be substantially different from those that currently exist. CSIRO research released today suggests that, by 2030, climate change stress on our natural…