The world’s population could reach almost 10 billion by 2050. Most people will live in cities. To accommodate an additional 3 billion people, we’ll need to build the equivalent of one new city, that can…
King tides are just one of the threats faced by the people of Saibai Island in the Torres Strait, as a result of climate change.
Brad Marsellos
While you may have heard about the increasing threat that climate change and rising seas pose to Pacific islands — already forcing some communities to move — Australia has its own group of islands that…
Apollo Bay in Victoria. Australia’s coastal towns are vulnerable to changes in the surrounding seas.
ccdoh1/Flickr
Australia’s coastal towns, many built around fisheries and tourism, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. South east and south west Australia are marine hotspots — they are warming much faster…
When it gets hot in the city, where’s the best place to go?
Alpha/Flickr
Heatwaves — Australia’s biggest natural killers — are getting more frequent and hotter thanks to climate change. One day cities such as Melbourne may see unprecedented heat, perhaps 48C or higher. But…
Australia’s coast is famous around the world - but rising sea levels are poised to make things a lot less fun.
Adam J.W.C./Wikimedia Commons
“I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” holds true for many Australians who live on or near the coast. On top of the many lifestyle amenities coastal living offers, much of the country’s crucial infrastructure…
Can the brown anole lizard outrun climate change?
Ianaré Sévi
Lizards from the deserts of Australia to the tops of mountains in Costa Rica have given us insights into how animals take advantage of their environment to be less cold-blooded. Lizards seek out sunny…
Coalmining poses risks that can’t be managed away.
AAP Image/Incident Control Centre Hazelwood
Fittingly for a report on a huge fire, the findings of the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry act as a smokescreen for the bigger issues behind the disaster. Partly because of its narrow terms of reference, the…
Next time you have a bad day at work, consider Sisyphus. His annual appraisal by the ancient Greek gods was so bad (over the previous 12 months he demonstrated deceitfulness, greed, malice and homicide…
Sunrise over Queenstown in New Zealand in July 2012. This year’s ski season is just beginning in Australia and New Zealand.
Trey Ratcliff/Flickr
Australia’s ski season is finally getting underway, with the first resort, Perisher, opening its ski lifts after some weekend snow fall. But snow lovers are still watching and waiting for good falls elsewhere…
US summers are longer and hotter, which the new report warns is affecting power supplies. Last summer, the Pilgrim nuclear plant near Boston had to reduce its power output because the bay’s water was too warm to cool the reactor.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission/Flickr
It’s been talked up as a “game-changing” new report, which shows ordinary Americans how climate change is already affecting their lives on everything from summer heat and power shortages, to pollen allergies…
Sanjay Lanka, University of Essex; Flávia Naves, Federal University of Lavras, and Yuna Fontoura, Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública e de Empresas (FGV/EBAPE)
The global food system contributes to climate change through industrial farming practices, the increasing use of fertiliser to fight dropping yields and the transport of food around the world. But the…
Change at the British coastline is a reality we have always lived with. A thousand years ago, King Canute showed his courtiers how absurd it was to seek to command the waves. Later, others built sea walls…
The IPCC has re-iterated its concern that climate change is a serious threat to human safety and security in its latest series of reports. And while energy, transport, water, tourism and health are highlighted…
How much does climate change cost? What will be the impact on our wallets? The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Working Group II has concluded that global warming…
Coasts are at risk from rising seas, but that risk could be alleviated by coastal ecosystems such as mangroves.
Sheep"R"Us/Flickr
Instead of costly levees and seawalls, coastal ecosystems could offer an alternative way to protect Australia’s coastal communities from rising seas, saving money and storing carbon along the way. Sea…
If companies won’t see things differently, we need to.
frankspandl/Pixel
We find ourselves in an era of what we might call creative self-destruction. We’re destroying ourselves – it’s as simple as that. Economic growth and exploiting nature’s resources have long gone hand-in-hand…
Flooding as a result of wetter winters is set to continue.
Steve Parsons/PA Archive
Climate change is a serious threat to human safety and security according to the latest report from the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change. But also coming through loud and clear is that adaptation…
We know what’s in store – now it’s time to do something about it.
AAP
Despite the mounting evidence, there are still some who would deny the veracity of human-caused climate change and its potential to disrupt and harm our communities. Most dissenters rely on non-expert…
Bleached and healthy corals on the Great Barrier Reef near Queensland’s Keppel Islands.
AAP
Australia’s coral reefs and mountain-top ecosystems are set to suffer from climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest summary of the research. The threats to these…
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science and African Climate and Development Initiative Research Chair, University of Cape Town