No matter what the aviation industry does to reduce emissions, it will be outweighed by growth in air travel, according to a new analysis. Growth will trump emissions cuts even if significant (and contentious…
Poorer people are more vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events. Pictured: the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
DFID - UK Department for International Development/Flickr
Climate projections suggest that, thanks to human activity, we will likely see an increase in extreme weather events, disruptions to agriculture, loss of livelihoods and displacement of people. While everyone…
Economist Thomas Piketty has warned “climate change cannot be eliminated at the stroke of a pen”.
Parti Socialiste du Loiret/Flickr
French economist Thomas Piketty and his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century are a global publishing phenomenon. But while Piketty’s writing on wealth inequality has been widely debated, far fewer…
The Rufous Scrub-bird: will it have to move to Tasmania to survive?
Allan Richardson
Rufous Scrub-birds have been calling loudly from the mountains of eastern Australia ever since Australia parted from Gondwana 65 million years ago. They are still there today – as noisy as ever, though…
Should we pick and choose our climate strategies based on how water-wise they are? As our new research published in Climatic Change shows, some activities aimed at tackling greenhouse emissions can also…
How genuine is China’s commitment to green energy?
WiNG
During Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s last visit to the UK, China signed a series of deals on energy and low carbon technology, and a declaration of cooperation on climate change. A few weeks later, similar…
Jim Salinger, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Blair Fitzharris, University of Otago, and Trevor Chinn, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
A third of the permanent snow and ice of New Zealand’s Southern Alps has now disappeared, according to our new research based on National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research aerial surveys. Since…
A string of events earlier this year provided a sobering snapshot of a global climate system out of whack. Europe suffered devastating floods, Britain’s coastline was mauled, and the polar vortex cast…
Bill Shorten has reaffirmed Labor’s commitment to action on climate change.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has taken his battle with prime minister Tony Abbott over climate policy to an international stage, saying the issue should be a priority for the G20 leaders’ meeting in…
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…
Cattle comes at a high cost, with or without a rosette.
Andrew Milligan/PA
That eating beef is environmentally costly is by now widely appreciated. But little has been done to curtail the amount of cattle farmed for meat consumption. To try and address this, my colleagues and…
The monsoon can dampen spirits, whether it rains too much or not enough.
Arvind Jain
With each monsoon season India waits with bated breath for forecasts from the India Meteorological Department and other international forecasting agencies. This year’s forecast suggested a weakened monsoon…
Journalists inside the budget lock up scrambling to file multiple stories, often across a wide range of topics, while meeting tight time and space constraints.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Apocalyptic claims and counter-claims have typified the climate change policy debate in Australia, leaving the public confused and mistrustful. Often, the news media hasn’t always helped clear up that…
A tourist train from Sheringham to Holt steams past an offshore wind farm, one of many that have sprung up along the UK coast.
Gerry Balding/Flickr
Australia’s carbon price has gone – but a UK review released this week shows that to lay the foundations for a low-carbon economy, pricing carbon is far from the whole story. Over recent months, as Australia’s…
High-emission brown coal power generators including Hazelwood are set to be among the short-term winners from the carbon tax repeal.
AAP Image/David Crosling
When the carbon tax was introduced, there was a lot of discussion about winners and losers. The Labor government limited the number of businesses that had to pay the tax, while it also gave carbon tax…
The B20 and G20 agendas are both focused on economic growth, but Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants to avoid linking climate policy to the agenda.
Aman Sharma/AAP
In a speech delivered at ANU in April last year, then shadow environment minister Greg Hunt looked toward Australia’s host role for the G20 during 2014. Regarding climate policy he said Australia should…