Protecting forests and wetlands, which absorb and store carbon, is one way to slow climate change. Scientists are proposing similar treatment for marine animals that help store carbon in the oceans.
Two driverless tractors spray vines in a Texas vineyard. Each one is controlled from a single command station (2012).
ASIrobots/Wikipedia
The Trump administration is sharply reducing environmental protection for wetlands and streams across the US. This roundup of stories spotlights the many benefits that such water bodies provide.
Mangrove forests along the world’s tropical and subtropical coasts store enormous quantities of ‘blue’ carbon – especially in river delta zones, where soil builds up quickly.
Over 99 percent of today’s plastics come from oil, but new bio-based options are becoming available.
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One big problem with plastics is that they’re largely made of petroleum. Sourcing bio-polymers from plants and bacteria has some big benefits – and the technology is starting to take off.
Opportunities to help drive the energy transition are everywhere - even in Western Australia’s remote salt pans.
Peter C. Doherty
Peter C. Doherty, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
Nobel Prizewinning health researcher Peter Doherty reflects on the challenge of delivering a healthy climate for the world. From hydrogen power to wooden skyscrapers, the options are endless, but all require leadership.
Freshwater cypress swamp, First Landing State Park, Va.
VA State Parks
Wetlands are some of the world’s most undervalued weapons against climate change. They store huge quantities of carbon – but without better protection, many could soon be drained or paved over.
Long’s Peak framed by rock outcrop, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Roy Luck
Scientists have long thought most nitrogen in Earth’s ecosystems comes from the air, but new research shows it also is released as rocks weather. This could boost plant growth and help sequester carbon – but not fast enough to avert climate change, as some pundits have claimed.
Europe loses as many trees to storms each year as Poland produces in timber. Until now, the models for predicting which trees are at risk have not been good enough.
Giant kelp can grow up to 60cm a day, given the right conditions.
Joe Belanger/shutterstock.com
In an extract from his new book, Tim Flannery explains how giant kelp farms could suck carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the ocean’s depths, while encouraging species like fish and oysters.
A coolabah forest in Western Australia – one of the world’s previously unrecognised dryland forests.
TERN Ausplots
A new survey has identified millions of hectares of forest in dryland areas, a finding that boosts the total global forest cover by 9% and has significant consequences for carbon budgets.
Cypress swamp near Mandeville, Louisiana.
Neal Wellons/Flickr
A new report calls U.S. forests an undervalued asset for slowing climate change. It warns that they are being degraded by logging for wood, paper and fuel, particularly in the Southeast.
Iceland’s geothermal power plants are an ideal place to test pumping carbon dioxide underground.
Dom Wolff-Boenisch
It’s no exaggeration to say the tropics drive our planet’s carbon cycle – the constant transfer of carbon back and forth, on a global scale, between living things and the environment. Understanding the…
Coal seam gas is only one issue for managing one of Australia’s most important geological resources.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Sara Bice, The University of Melbourne; Mike Sandiford, The University of Melbourne e Will Howard, The University of Melbourne
In a recent article on The Conversation, Queensland coal seam gas (CSG) researchers argued that the industry is progressing faster than the science, leading to concerns over fugitive emissions and impacts…