Soil underpins Australia’s economy – yet since Europeans arrived, the natural asset has steadily been degraded. A new national plan aims to change that.
Sunrise over Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.
NPS/Flickr
When something is free, people use a lot of it. Economists are urging governments to compute values for natural resources – wildlife, plants, air, water – to create motives for protecting them.
Pipelines, dams, gadgets: does water management really need to be all about control and power? Adopting less masculine ideas and working with nature may be more prudent.
Our research is deeply concerning because it signals there are no quick fixes to the ongoing fire crisis afflicting Australia, which is being driven by relentless climate change.
Morgan Pratchett, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
A study of 183 coral reefs worldwide quantified the impacts of ocean warming and acidification on reef growth rates. Even under the lowest emissions scenarios, the future of reefs is not bright.
Myricaria germanica is a rare and endangered species hit hard by climate change, but little research is undertaken to help save it.
Martino Adamo
New research found colour played a major role skewing researcher bias — pretty, vibrant flowers get more scientific attention than dull plants, regardless of their ecological significance.
The audio version of an in-depth article rounding on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to “greenwash” their lack of commitment to solving global warming.
The Victorian Government recently released their Climate Change Strategy and committed to halving greenhouse emissions by 2030. Don’t applaud this just yet, there’s much more to do.
Coastal areas in West Africa are under intense pressure from demographic growth, economic expansion and ongoing climate change.
IRD
Olusegun Dada, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD); Frédéric Ménard, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD); Pierre Morand, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), and Rafael Almar, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
Around the world, fragile coastal ecosystems are under intense pressure, and understanding and managing their complex interactions requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach.
Sunrise in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.
Robert D. Barnes via Getty Images
The US is shifting to a new set of climate ‘normals’ – data sets averaged over the past 30 years. But normal is a relative concept in a time of climate change.
The utopian 20th-century model of a modern city – one that has been replicated around the world – is being exposed as unsuitable for adapting to the pace of change in the 21st century.
Methane is the world’s second most abundant greenhouse gas. It doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long as CO2, but it’s many times more potent.
Photo by Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Image
The lead author of a new UN report on methane explains the findings and how oil and gas companies could be making money and saving the climate at the same time.
The new commitments of state governments go some way to filling the void left by the lack of a national climate policy. The states should, and can, coordinate their efforts. Here’s how.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen presents the “Green New Deal” plan to fight climate change before the European Parliament in Brussels on December 11, 2019.
Aris Oikonomou/AFP
To achieve sustainable growth under the constraint that consumption is independent from the use of natural resources, we must move along the path of qualitative growth.
HFCs keep refrigerators cool, but when these short-lived climate pollutants leak, they warm the planet.
The California Aqueduct, which carries water more than 400 miles south from the Sierra Nevada, splits as it enters Southern California at the border of Kern and Los Angeles counties.
California DWR
Roger Bales, University of California, Merced and Brandi McKuin, University of California, Santa Cruz
Installing solar panels over California’s 4,000 miles of canals could generate less expensive, renewable energy, save water, fight climate change – and offer a solution for the thirsty American West.
Humanity can still limit global warming to 1.5°C this century. But political action will determine whether it actually does. Conflating the two questions amounts to dangerous, misplaced punditry.
Two billion people already eat ‘prawns of the land’, so why don’t many Australians? A new CSIRO industry roadmap on edible insects explains why we should bring bugs into mainstream diets.