The idea that harm done today can be offset in the future is based on a basic misunderstanding of the carbon cycle. Planting more trees is important – but it’s no substitute for cutting emissions.
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Environment + Energy – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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Every living thing leaves traces in its environment. By sampling water or even air for this environmental DNA, we can know which species live where.
Understanding the success of the ABC’s War on Waste is a lesson in behavioural psychology. Research reveals five ways to guide other entertainment-education interventions to similar success.
Wars are multiplying – and the damage these conflicts do isn’t just immediate. They leave long-term environmental damage
Technologies such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence are making it easier to gather more accurate data on biodiversity. Developing these digital tools will help vital ecosystem restoration.
Seafloor sediments from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf represent an archive of warmer periods in Earth’s past. An ambitious international project aims to uncover what we can learn about our hotter future.
Satellite data shows wildfires are destroying large areas of timber-producing forests around the world. These fires are becoming more destructive with each passing year.
Buying back water from irrigators across the Murray-Darling Basin will not be enough to restore river health because we have big problems getting this ‘environmental water’ to where it’s needed most.
New Zealand cities grow mostly through building houses on undeveloped land. But this removes fertile soil and undermines the food production and other ecological functions city dwellers depend on.
United Nations efforts to advance a global treaty on plastic pollution echo past multilateral agreements that tackled ozone layer depletion and acid rain.
Muttonbird ‘wrecks’ are becoming more common. Despite speculation about many possible causes, the evidence points to changes in the Arctic ocean ecosystem from where the birds migrate to Australia.
For Australia to shift to a net zero economy, its big polluters need to cut emissions. A get-out clause buried in the policy makes it unlikely that they will, and the result will be devastating.
For a decade, debate has raged over Dark Emu’s account of Aboriginal agriculture. But ancient food production in Australia is more complex than labels like farming or hunter-gathering suggest.
Apartment residents need more sustainable, climate-adapted designs. They shouldn’t have to depend on costly, high-emissions air conditioning to remain comfortable and healthy.
In this podcast, former Labor climate change minister Greg Combet joins The Conversation to discuss net-zero, and Australia's future as a "renewable energy superpower".
In 1997, John Howard chose expansion of Australian fossil fuels over Pacific concerns about climate change. Will Albanese finally mend the rift?
Back when there were Arctic alligators and turtles, ‘polar stratospheric clouds’ kept their world warm. Research suggests these clouds contribute to the ‘missing warming’ in climate models.
If big money is going to invest in clean energy and technology, the rules have to be clear. Australia’s launch of a green finance strategy last week was a good start but there is further to go.
Growing awareness of sexual harassment and discrimination in the field prompted an international survey and research into potential solutions.
One barrier to climate action has been our own psychology and reluctance to take action. But as the crisis intensifies, some of these barriers have evaporated.
Controlling invasive sea urchins is expensive. Why not make it profitable by fishing for them and selling their roe as a delicacy?
The river wasn’t merely a physical entity – it was a symbol of spiritual and cultural significance, serving as the life force which flows through Country.
When Australia’s government and opposition argue over how to get to net zero emissions, nuclear power is the flashpoint. The argument against nuclear is stronger, but not for the obvious reason.
Any plan to dam or extract water from some of Australia’s last wild rivers must carefully consider the consequences. Prawn, mud crab and barramundi fisheries could suffer in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Giant eddy currents in the sea spread heat. But if trapped in place, they can cause marine heatwaves deadly to sea life. And there’s a big one shaping up off Sydney right now.