James Whitmore, The Conversation and Michael Hopkin, The Conversation
Climate change is already having a major impact on the planet, with impacts forecast to worsen significantly, according to the latest summary of peer-reviewed climate science from the Intergovernmental…
Riding underwater on Darwin’s most popular bike path, on 1 February 2014.
Andrew Campbell
Rising sea levels are typically written about as a “threat to future generations” – something to worry about by 2050 or 2100, not now. But if you want to see why even relatively small increases in sea…
Tennis fans cool off at the Australian Open in Melbourne this week.
AAP Image/Joe Castro
Just as Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 identified a temperature at which paper self-combusts, the Australian Open has just shown the world that there is a temperature at which tennis players start…
If the wells are dry, it doesn’t matter how many hands on the pumps.
Kevin Frayer/AP
Jacob Schewe, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
There are already many countries where the scarcity of water affects people’s lives. While water for drinking may be first to come to mind, as agriculture is the largest use of water worldwide water scarcity…
Climate lawyers suggest a clean and healthy future could be paid for with litigation.
EPA/RADEK PIETRUSZKA
Research published last month in the journal Climatic Change may provide an essential building block in proving corporate liability for current and future climate change damage. Researcher Richard Heede…
Russia is the fourth largest producer of greenhouse gases, but has shown little initiative and remained quiet among the turmoil at the UN Conference of the Parties (COP) climate summit in Warsaw. The hottest…
A year after Hurricane Sandy, President Obama has taken serious steps toward climate adaptation. Australia is also subject to extreme weather, but we’re underprepared.
Charlie Walker
The political controversy which erupted recently about the influence of climate change on the NSW bushfires was a distraction. First, the Climate Council has confirmed climate change is influencing the…
When tragedies such as the NSW bushfires strike it might feel thoughtless and insensitive to talk about climate change. But history proves there are three reasons that disasters are precisely the time…
More of us are getting older, for longer, and policies need to reflect that.
John Stillwell/PA
The global population is ageing. This is happening at a time when the rate and scale of human-induced environmental change is exceeding critical ecological limits, raising concerns over the consequences…
Firefighters have plenty of ideas about disaster management - so why don’t we listen?
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
You do not find many climate change sceptics on the end of [fire] hoses anymore… They are dealing with increasing numbers of fires, increasing rainfall events, increasing storm events. – A senior Victorian…
Marlgu Billabong in Australia’s Kimberley region, which new research nominates as a smart place to invest in conservation.
www.shutterstock.com/Janelle Lugge
As the dust settles on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the science of climate change, the obvious question is: what do we do next? Our research, published in Nature…
We’re going to need more than sandbags to adapt to climate change.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
If we haven’t heard much about carbon policy this election, we’ve heard even less about the other side of the climate equation - adaptation. We’re already seeing an increase in extreme weather, and climate…
Many of those who help out after extreme weather hits are vulnerable themselves.
AAP Image
The responsibility of caring for those most vulnerable in society often falls to community service groups. When extreme events such as bushfires, floods, heatwaves and storms hit, many rely on local volunteers…
To adapt crops to climate change, we need to know what’s working on the ground.
bark/Flickr
How will agriculture adapt to a changing climate? It’s an important question and, as more governments start worrying about future food security, one that’s worth trying to answer. Many well-known scientific…
Wrexham, like this driver, is ill-prepared for floods and other climate change-related problems.
Matt Price/Flickr
More than half the world’s population now lives in cities or urban areas, which means our vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is tied up with cities’ ability to cope. Responsible for more than…
The Australian Senate inquiry on preparedness for extreme weather events was, according to Green’s Senator Christine Milne, an opportunity to bring “urgency and ambition” to the issue. The final report…
Forest fires will become more severe with climate change, inevitably taking a greater toll of lives.
European Press Agency
The tragic events in Yarnell, Arizona, where 19 firefighters died battling a forest fire, brought to the forefront the dangers of forest fires. The changes in climate that have been observed during the…
Only 39% of mining companies believe the climate is changing; 13% have made plans to adapt.
CSIRO
Recent research suggests only a minority of mining companies are preparing for the biophysical impacts of climate change. Those that are preparing are going it alone: there is little collaboration on planning…
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science and African Climate and Development Initiative Research Chair, University of Cape Town