The Tasmanian tiger is among the best known of our extinct species, but researchers have now revealed the extent of the crisis.
TASMANIAN MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
New research has revealed 100 plant and animal species have become extinct in the past two centuries – a far higher number than previously thought.
Modern fire managers can learn much from Aboriginal fire practice.
Matthew Newton/RUMMIN Productions
Indigenous people used small fires skilfully to prevent larger bushfires. In this time of crisis, we must learn from them.
Humans are probably causing what ice ages and asteroids caused before them.
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The Earth has experienced five periods of mass extinction. Scientists can’t quite be certain yet, but they’re fairly sure we’re now well into the sixth.
Rapid population growth and increased consumption are now seen as the main drivers of environmental changes.
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Discussions about climate change often skirt around the issue of population growth, but it is the main driver of rising carbon dioxide levels and many other environmental changes on a planetary scale.
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Governments fail to imagine how worst-case scenarios can come about – much less plan for them. But there are things we can do.
Framing nature in terms of kinship can motivate people to care about the loss of biodiversity.
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Our prevailing relationship with nature is based on framing the living world as a set of natural resources. This utility-based worldview perpetuates the drivers of ongoing biodiversity loss.
Police arrest a protester after Extinction Rebellion blocked the corner of Margaret and William Streets in Brisbane in August 2019.
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Democracy is not perfect. Sometimes it produces policies that are undemocratic and unjust. In those cases, breaking the law may be justified.
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Polar regions may be becoming more profitable, but these “benefits” come with far more severe costs.
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It’s unlikely that all species of bees will go extinct anytime soon – but current losses could still have a terrible impact on food supplies and ecosystems.
Researchers only have access to limited facilities and support for research.
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Given Africa’s projected population growth, management of its environment must be a global priority
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Scrapping the idea of a species is an extreme idea – but perhaps a good one.
Climate change is altering the smell of rosemary, affecting its quality and quantity.
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As climatic conditions change, plants’ odours are altered, with direct consequences for pollination, especially by bees.
Plastics at a recycling depot in North Vancouver, B.C. in June 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The global focus on plastic pollution isn’t a distraction from other planetary issues.
Habitat loss to palm oil plantations in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. The forests of Borneo are home to the few remaining Bornean orangutan Pongo pygmaeus , Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni , and the Borneo pygmy elephant Elephas maximus borneensis , among other endangered species.
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New research has found that different types of habitat loss can change the stability of whole plant and animal communities.
Rufous-backed dwarf kingfisher habitat is lost when forests are cleared for oil palm plantations.
© Muhammad Syafiq Yahya
The impact of deforestation for oil palm plantations is well known – and now research has found the replanting process could be additional harm to biodiversity.
The Christmas Island pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi) became extinct in 2009.
Lindy Lumsden
Current environment laws are manifestly failing Australian animals.
Barking Owls are one of Australia’s 1,770 threatened or endangered species.
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Invasive species are the biggest single threat to Australian plants and animals.
Koalas are facing serious threats in the wild.
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It’s hard to say exactly how many koalas are in the wild, but there’s no doubt they’re in serious trouble.
Feral cats kill millions of Australian animals a year.
Mark Marathon/AAP
Cats are wreaking havoc on Australia’s ecosystems and non-lethal methods aren’t enough.
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Not all of the solutions to the climate and ecological crisis have to be painful.