The record floods of 1954 and 1974 still stand as Lismore’s high-water marks. But Tropical Cyclone Debbie delivered her deluge far more abruptly than the rains that triggered those historic floods.
Nobody can observe events in the future so to study climate change, scientists build detailed models and use powerful supercomputers to simulate conditions, such as the global water vapor levels seen here, and to understand how rising greenhouse gas levels will change Earth’s systems.
NCAR/UCAR
Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research et Reto Knutti, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
People worry Washington is losing respect for science and even the centuries-old scientific method. Two climate scientists explain how science can be done when talking about the future.
When species are pushed to the top of the mountain, where else is left to go?
Tero Mustonen
From luxuries like champagne to the very livelihoods of fishing communities in the developing world – the climate-driven shifts in species will affect us all.
A farmer harvests soybeans near Lenox, Iowa.
Drake University Agricultural Law Center
Whether or not farmers believe human activities are changing the climate (many don’t), an agriculture specialist urges them to pursue payments for techniques that return carbon to the soil.
After decades of sustainability initiatives, key environmental indicators keep getting worse.
The Capital Wind Farm, REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo
Why, after decades of international agreements, are we still damaging the environment? New research, looking at dozens of unsuccessful policies, has uncovered the basic elements of failure.
Ten years ago today, Kevin Rudd spoke at the National Climate Summit at Parliament House, in Canberra, famously declaring climate change to be “the great moral challenge of our generation”. Rudd, in alliance…
US President Donald Trump this week signed an executive order on “energy independence”. The order rescinds key elements of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. Trump’s order lifts requirements…
Impact investing emerged in 2007 out of global discussions on how to mobilise more capital to tackle societal problems.
shutterstock
Massive new coal plants planned for Pakistan will further harm the environment in a country already suffering the effects of climate change. Solar energy is a clear alternative.
Wave goodbye to US climate leadership.
EPA/Ron Sachs
Donald Trump has signalled the end of US leadership on climate policy, with potentially unpleasant consequences for America’s economy, security and diplomatic standing.
People protest at a demonstration in Market Square, in Cleveland. The demonstration was organized in protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration order.
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
A lot of moral outrage has been expressed lately – over Trump’s travel ban and other issues. The expression of such outrage is more than a response to perceived injustice.
Trump signed the executive order surrounded by coal miners, saying it was ‘about jobs.’
AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Trump’s executive order on climate will cede American leadership internationally and scores a political win. But reversing all Obama’s work will require big wins in court.
President Trump holds up the signed Energy Independence Executive Order, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at EPA headquarters in Washington, surrounded by coal miners and members of his Cabinet.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Trump’s latest executive order weakens or reverses multiple rules and policies designed to slow climate change. Scholars explain the order’s impact.
Flora and fauna can adapt to climate change, but some are more successful than others.
allstars/shutterstock
A survey of what young people perceive to be the biggest threat to Europe reveals some surprising information.
In the Fir Tree, children stamp on a discarded – but feeling – Christmas tree.
The Fir Tree, illustrated by George Dalziel and Edward Dalziel, from Out of the Heart: Spoken to the Little Ones, 1867
The Industrial Revolution choked English cities in smog, filled rivers with waste and spread disease in crowded cities. At the same time, fairy tales about humans destroying nature proliferated.
The original conflict between development and preservation of natural assets is broadening as the risks of climate change become ever more obvious.
Crystal Ja/AAP
Conflicts over coastal areas have largely been between development and preserving what makes these attractive places to live. Rising sea levels are now complicating our relationship with the coast.