Researchers from Edith Cowan University found that busy roads can be a barrier for some birds, particularly insectivores…
Marlgu Billabong in Australia’s Kimberley region, which new research nominates as a smart place to invest in conservation.
www.shutterstock.com/Janelle Lugge
As the dust settles on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the science of climate change, the obvious question is: what do we do next? Our research, published in Nature…
Even when the Climate Commission was taxpayer funded it was good value.
The Climate Council
Many will be relieved at today’s announcement by board members of the Climate Commission that they will be continuing their work by setting up a community-funded Climate Council. Communicating climate…
Climate change means some mountain species are just clinging on, but can they adapt?
Australian Alps/Flickr
Craig Moritz, Australian National University e Rosa Agudo, Australian National University
In work we published in Science today we look at two conflicting ideas on whether species can adapt to climate change. Are our ideas about extinction too catastrophic, or do we actually need to do more…
Australia is hanging on to flood mitigation measures that other countries have left behind.
AAP Image/Pamela Blackburn
The last few years provided plenty of data to help us reform our approach to floods. With devastating flooding in Queensland and Victoria in 2011 and 2013, we should have learned a great deal about which…
Australia’s transport planners are better than most at dealing with disasters.
AAP Image/Supplied by SES, Samantha Cantwell
Transport access is essential for people to get to the goods and services they need in daily life. Never is that basic access more appreciated, and more desired, than when it’s taken away from us, such…
We assume the trade-offs between fire prevention and impacts can be measured in terms of dollars, but it’s not that simple.
AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Fires are an inescapable part of life in Australia; they have been occurring for millennia, and regardless of our actions, they will continue. Much of the vegetation in Australia has evolved to be tolerant…
Scientists need to feel confident to speak out about the dangers of coming extreme weather.
Ramin Talai/EPA
Last week the global landscape of mitigating and managing disasters changed forever. We heard the news of six Italian scientists charged for manslaughter and jailed for six years each for failing to predict…
Robert McClelland has a roadmap for a FEMA-like disaster management authority.
AAP Image/Raoul Wegat
Who comes to the rescue when there is a disaster? Who pays the bills? It is well accepted doctrine that in Australia the primary responsibility for protecting life and property lies with the states and…
In some parts of Queensland, half the plant species may be displaced.
Laura Thorn
Climate change will place increasing pressure on Australia’s natural environments in the future. Queensland is no exception. CSIRO and the Queensland Government recently conducted an in-depth review and…
Brightening and increasing a cloud’s longevity would help reduce the effects of global warming.
karindalziel/Flickr
Marine cloud brightening: it’s a concept that has been floated in climate engineering discussions for some time. But what are the moral implications of this geoengineering technology, and how likely is…
We don’t know what the Australian landscape will look like in 50 years, but we know it will change.
Tezza #
Within decades, environments across Australia will be substantially different from those that currently exist. CSIRO research released today suggests that, by 2030, climate change stress on our natural…
On 28 March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its full report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). The IPCC’s essential…
Studies of prehistoric climate change in Victoria’s western lakes imply that future changes might not be smooth.
Dacre Smith's painting of Lake Gnotuk, from Views of Victoria in the steps of von Guerard.
Step changes in warming of a few tenths to 1°C can produce rapid changes in risks such as extreme heat and fire danger. Yet, adaptation-planning that follows the dominant model of smooth climate change…
Climate change is coming - do we plan to just carry on regardless?
AAP
When thinking of the challenges we face in responding to climate change, it is time to admit that our political focus has been fairly narrow: limiting emissions and moving beyond carbon-based energy systems…
If speaking up helps avoid devastating bushfires, scientists should take the risk.
AAP
Scientists are increasingly expected to engage with the media to communicate their findings. My research leads me to believe Hobart is at risk from a severe bushfire disaster – but what are my responsibilities…
A Green Climate Fund could help African livestock farmers.
International Livestock Research Institute
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: With a backdrop of global financial woes and the European Union’s debt crisis, the Conference of the Parties at Durban convened with lower expectations but high stakes…
Climate change will mean more natural disasters: let’s not be cynical about planning for them.
AAP
Much of the commentary surrounding the Prime Minister’s new-look cabinet has focused on the promotion of her loyal lieutenants, Bill Shorten and Mark Arbib, and Nicola Roxon’s elevation to the Attorney-General…
South Australian communities know what it’s like to live without water.
AAP
When the Murray Darling Basin Authority commissioned me in 2011 to examine the social impacts on the Lower Murray and Lakes communities of low flows and drought, I was confronted with irrigation farmers…