Environment + Energy – Articles, Analysis, Comment – The Conversation

According to the WWF, we’re living off 1.6 Earths’ worth of resources. Kevin Gill/Flickr

Logically, how is it possible to use more resources than Earth can replenish?

Bonnie McBain, University of Newcastle

You may have seen reports that humans use more resources than the Earth can produce – but, logically, how is that possible? A bathtub can help explain.

The famous “faceless fish”, which garnered worldwide headlines when it was collected by the expedition. Rob Zugaro

Sludge, snags, and surreal animals: life aboard a voyage to study the abyss

Tim O'Hara, Museum Victoria

Surveying the bottom of the ocean turns out to be far from easy. But there was something wonderful about seeing animals we have only read about in old books.

Politics podcast: Alan Finkel on the future of Australia’s energy market

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Politics podcast: Alan Finkel on the future of Australia’s energy market.

Alan Finkel acknowledges there's a hard road ahead for policymaking on energy.

The birds commonly seen in urban backyards of Australia are increasingly introduced species like this house sparrow, sharing a birdbath with a native red-browed finch. Wanda Optland

Is it really so wrong to care for an introduced bird species?

Grainne Cleary, Deakin University

We all know how vital it is for our native bird species to thrive. But what if the only birds that visit your garden are introduced "pest" species? Many people feel these birds deserve some love too.

Numbers of skylarks have declined dramatically in western Europe. from www.shutterstock.com

The Lark Descending: are non-native birds undervalued in New Zealand?

Stephen D Wratten, Lincoln University, New Zealand

Latest results from garden bird surveys in New Zealand show that at least six non-native species have declined over the past decade.

The bid to keep the lights on is prompting ever more government meddling in electricity markets. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

The government’s new energy plans will leave investors less confident than ever

David Blowers, Grattan Institute

Proposals for the government to commission more "baseload" electricity generation will raise private sector concerns over Canberra's growing willingness to intervene in a previously free market.

A pair of rare sea snakes, thought to be extinct, sighted off Western Australia’s mid-north coast in 2015. Our stunning range of serpents inspire fear, but is that fair? AAP Image/WA Parks and Wildlife/Grant Griffin

A venomous paradox: how deadly are Australia’s snakes?

Ronelle Welton, University of Melbourne and Peter Hobbins, University of Sydney

For over a century Australia’s venomous snakes have been counted amongst the world’s deadliest, yet human fatalities remain strikingly rare. How did our snakes develop such a fearsome reputation?

Getting your strata committee to agree to solar panels is tricky, but it can be done. Stucco

Get in on the ground floor: how apartments can join the solar boom

Bjorn Sturmberg, Macquarie University

Apartment-dwellers risk being left behind in the rooftop solar boom. But some projects are showing how apartments can join the transition to a distributed renewable energy future.

Once the coat around the seed is moistened, the embryo cells expand and burst out in a process called germination. shutterstock/NUM LPPHOTO

Curious Kids: how can a tiny seed actually grow into a huge tree?

Cris Brack, Australian National University

A seed contains nearly everything a tree needs to get growing. Just add a dash of water, a bit of warmth and the right location, and you'll be seeing green in no time.

A ‘thinned’ landscape, which provides far from ideal habitat for many species.

Land clearing on the rise as legal ‘thinning’ proves far from clear-cut

April Reside, The University of Queensland; Anita J Cosgrove, The University of Queensland; Jennifer Silcock, The University of Queensland; Leonie Seabrook, The University of Queensland, and Megan C Evans, The University of Queensland

Legal vegetation 'thinning' is contributing to high rates of land clearing, potentially causing problems for threatened species and ecosystems.

The sun rises above Uluru in outback Australia. David Gray/Reuters

We need our country; our country needs us

John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University

'Australian values' have been mangled into meaninglessness by countless politicians. But there is an national character, shaped by the Australian land. New research investigates Outback values.

What exactly does research say on heatwaves and hot days? AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

Are heatwaves ‘worsening’ and have ‘hot days’ doubled in Australia in the last 50 years?

Andrew King, University of Melbourne

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie told Q&A that heatwaves were 'worsening' in Australia and 'hot days' had doubled in the last 50 years. Let's take a look at the evidence.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie, speaking on Q&A. Q&A

Full response from the Climate Council for an article on heatwaves and hot days in Australia

Michael Courts, The Conversation and Lucinda Beaman, The Conversation

Response from a spokesperson from the Climate Council in relation to an article on CEO Amanda McKenzie’s claims about worsening heatwaves and increasing numbers of hot days in Australia.

Members of the W&J Traditional Owners Council outside the Federal Court. W&J Council

The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani’s land deal

Morgan Brigg, The University of Queensland; John Quiggin, The University of Queensland, and Kristen Lyons, The University of Queensland

The Carmichael coal mine requires a crucial native title agreement to build key infrastructure. But an Indigenous group is bringing legal action against Adani, which may create a fatal roadblock.

Giant northern cockroaches are surprisingly caring parents. Urasimaru/Wikimedia Commons

Only a mother could love ‘em: why cockroaches and termites are great parents

David Yeates, CSIRO

Cockroaches and termites are closely related, and both pay their offspring a lot of attention – so much so in the latter's case that the kids stay all their lives to help keep the nest clean and tidy.

Furious winds keep the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Anarctica free of snow and ice. Calcites found in the valleys have revealed the secrets of ancient subglacial volcanoes. Stuart Rankin/Flickr

Volcanoes under the ice: melting Antarctic ice could fight climate change

Silvia Frisia, University of Newcastle

Melting ice from Antartica could feed vast plankton blooms, trapping carbon in the ocean. To understand this complex mechanism, researchers looked at volcanoes deep under glaciers.