Human-induced climatic changes are altering ecosystems worldwide. Because of these ecosystem changes, the geographic range of species is shifting towards the poles or to higher elevations. The speed of…
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Environment + Energy – Articles, Analysis, Comment
Displaying 7201 - 7225 of 7516 articles
2010 was the world’s hottest year on record, with global temperatures 0.53°C above the long-term (1961-1990) average. 2011 started with a strong La Niña (perhaps the strongest since 1917), something which…
Today’s carbon navel-gazing by politicians, business leaders and media scribes seems determined to constrain Australia to the stone age of industrial competence, workforce skills and international environmental…
The recently announced $276 million Tasmanian forest agreement agreement sets out to end the war between loggers and conservationists. But the war has been bitter, and forest industry workers have often…
AUSTRALIA 2050 – There’s no way of predicting what the environment will be like in 2050, but there are many possibilities. I will sketch out two extremes. The first is bleak. The first independent national…
On Thursday August 18, two bills were introduced in the Australian House of Representatives. One was the “Live Animal Export Restriction and Prohibition Bill 2011”, introduced by Independent Member for…
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna is meeting today to discuss raising Australia’s tuna fishing quota. The tuna industry is expected to ask for a 30% rise in Australia’s allocated…
Pollution from human activities has major impact on the world’s marine ecosystems. Plastic refuse is one of the most pervasive types of pollution. More than 80 million tons of plastics are estimated to…
Last week’s resounding defeat of two private members bills seeking to end live animal exports demonstrates the myopic vision Australian politicians have for the country’s agricultural industry. This is…
You really have to wonder what kind of message the New South Wales Government is trying to send about its attitude to science. Was the announcement of funding cuts to research during Science Week just…
Let’s face it; we just don’t like the word “tax”, do we? Such a brouhaha, such a fuss. But let’s just take a break from the group hysteria to look at the carbon tax from a few different points of view…
On the weekend of 12-13 August the Western Australian branch of the Liberal Party passed a resolution calling for a Royal Commission into the science of climate change. Apparently the party members are…
The debate about coal seam gas drilling in Australia is intensifying, amid calls from The Greens to further investigate its emissions profile. So what is the emissions profile of coal seam gas? How does…
A solar energy revolution is brewing that will put the coal and nuclear industries out of business. Solar is already reaching price parity with coal in many parts of Australia. In contrast to coal and…
Region by region projections of how climate is likely to change over the coming decades help to make the prospect of global warming more tangible and relevant. Picturing the climate we are likely to have…
Both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have staked their political futures on their climate policies. So perhaps they should also be asking what the hallmarks are of a climate leader? The German political…
Fisheries provide animal protein for much of the world’s population, and provide livelihoods for the millions of people who work in fishing industries. But overfishing, in conjunction with other human…
Food security and energy security are paramount to the survival and growth of Australia. Food security so that we may feed ourselves (and a hungry world), and energy security for transport, heating, lighting…
Debate is intensifying over the extraction of coal seam gas, particularly in NSW and Queensland. Farmers are protesting over safety concerns and threats to the country’s food security. The Greens and the…
Climate change challenges some of the fundamental assumptions on which our cities have been built. Within a generation or two, a city like Sydney may become exposed to a climate that is more similar to…
The stock market has taken us on a wild ride in recent times. Some, such as BHP Chairman Jac Nasser and Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu, have suggested that in light of the ongoing economic uncertainty…
Reducing carbon emissions is necessary, but what about the carbon that has already been released into the atmosphere? Many countries are turning to “biosequestration” for the answers: using nature - including…
When does “national interest” equal “national sovereignty”? Apparently when Australia looks south. That position seems to be emerging from think tanks and senior government officials in the stop/start…
The recently-released Lowy Institute report, Antarctica: Assessing and Protecting Australia’s National Interests is both timely and likely to stimulate much discussion about Australia’s future presence…
Cycling for transport in Australia is characterised by several “missing” population groups: women, children, adolescents and older adults. Women comprise about one-fifth of commuter cyclists in Australia…