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Climate change – Analysis and Comment

The now-extinct giant beaver once lived from Florida to Alaska. It weighed as much as 100 kilograms, roughly the same as a small black bear. Illustrated by Luke Dickey/Western University

Why giant human-sized beavers died out 10,000 years ago

Scientists studied the fossilized bones of giant beavers to understand what they ate and whether the species could keep up with environmental change.
Legislative action regarding vehicle emissions is overdue, and needs urgent attention by the federal government. Shutterstock

Australians could have saved over $1 billion in fuel if car emissions standards were introduced 3 years ago

This shocking figure comes from our back-of-the-envelope calculations looking at the effect of forcing more efficient engines on the Australian market.
Muddy water from debris flows like those in the Macalister catchment (West Gippsland, February 2007) can disrupt a region’s drinking water supply for years. Photo: Adrian Murphy (Melbourne Water)

Freak mud flows threaten our water supplies, and climate change is raising the risk

Australia’s water supplies are at risk as climate extremes provoke erosion events that threaten lakes and dams.
A still from the new film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which opens this week. In a time of environmental destruction, Godzilla is the perfect monster to represent the consequences of humanity’s actions. Warner Bros/IMDB

Why Godzilla is the perfect monster for our age of environmental destruction

Popular monsters often reflect humanity’s greatest fears. Godzilla, with its destructive rampages, is the foremost monster for our age of environmental threat.
Corals at Scott Reef in 2012, and at the same site during the 2016 mass bleaching. James Gilmour/AIMS

‘Bright white skeletons’: some Western Australian reefs have the lowest coral cover on record

The Western Australian coral reefs may not be as well known as the Great Barrier Reef, but they’re just as large and diverse. And they too have been devastated by cyclones and coral bleaching.