Monitoring methods based on environmental DNA are faster, more comprehensive and cheaper than traditional ecological surveys. They help fill gaps in New Zealand’s data on river health.
Rigor acadêmico, estilo jornalístico
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New Zealand’s plants and animals are globally unique and underpin primary production and tourism. The government’s fast-tracking proposal threatens to erode the natural capital the economy relies on.
New research comparing the geology of southern Africa with the deep seafloor near New Zealand challenges conventional views of how the planet behaved when it was very young.
Long lifespans and slow reproduction rates make deep-water sharks and rays as vulnerable to overexploitation as whales once were. We must place them under protection to avoid extinctions.
An estimated 13 trillion litres of ice has already been lost from glaciers in New Zealand’s Southern Alps since 1978. Several are now approaching extinction.
The world is on track to exceed 2°C warming within the next five years, with dire consequences for polar ice, mountain glaciers and permafrost – and human society.
Technologies such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence are making it easier to gather more accurate data on biodiversity. Developing these digital tools will help vital ecosystem restoration.
Seafloor sediments from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf represent an archive of warmer periods in Earth’s past. An ambitious international project aims to uncover what we can learn about our hotter future.
New Zealand cities grow mostly through building houses on undeveloped land. But this removes fertile soil and undermines the food production and other ecological functions city dwellers depend on.
Bacterial DNA extracted from soil includes many genes whose function remains unknown. The novel enzymes these genes code for could be useful in efforts to clean up persistent pollutants.
Redesigning agricultural landscapes to plant fire-retardant crops could help mitigate wildfires in an increasingly fire-prone world.
Preliminary findings show that managed retreat, structural flood protection and climate-resilient development projects are most at risk of maladaptation.
Stringent measures are needed to prevent plastic pollution. But concerns about carbon leaching from plastic waste would be better aimed at emissions from producing more plastic in the first place.
Ecological overshoot is driven by human consumption and a belief in endless economic growth. Could the marketing and media industries that feed those habits also help change them?
The rapid changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica highlight the urgency of better direct observations and measurements, beyond satellite monitoring and modelling.
Policies and funds to decarbonise high-emitting industries and electrify transport are already delivering emissions cuts. But they are at risk of being disestablished or weakened.
If we want to live in a world with Emperor penguins, we need to cut emissions steeply and protect parts of the ocean around Antarctica where climate change will have the biggest impact.
Antarctic sea ice is now nearly 9% below normal. But the dramatic decline is not universal around the continent, which makes it difficult to predict the overall impact of climate change.
Despite its importance, water management has been largely absent from the election campaign. But using trading markets to improve freshwater quality in smaller catchments deserves wider debate.
As the atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture. This brings more intense downpours but also accelerates warming – because water vapour is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Principais colaboradores
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Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Morgan Foundation Senior Research Fellow in Freshwater Ecology and Environmental Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science
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Senior Research Fellow, University of Canterbury
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Professor of Glaciology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Professor in Ocean Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Associate Professor of Applied Geology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Distinguished Scholar, NCAR; Affiliate Faculty, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand
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Professor of Environmental Genomics, Curtin University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Lecturer in Ecology, University of Otago
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Associate Professor in Geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Senior Lecturer in Child Psychiatry and Paediatrics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Senior Researcher, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
