Environmental racism remains a reality in South Africa. It is poor, black citizens who live on the most damaged land and in the most polluted neighbourhoods.
Bringing coal-fired power to the poor also means bringing pollution.
Biswarup Ganguly/Wikimedia Commons
Considerations of the moral case for coal must do far more than consider whether cheap fossil energy will lift people out of poverty. It must consider the pollution and harm to nature that come with it.
Former New York Governor George Pataki: “I think part of the problem is the…way Republicans think about climate change.”
Rick Wilking/Reuters
In the last Republican presidential debate, two candidates spoke out on climate change – a sign that the tide is turning away from linking conservative policies with denying climate change.
Early heat in Victoria helped fan bushfires in October.
AAP Image/Tracey Nearm
This has been Australia’s hottest October on record. And the record-breaking temperatures are at least six times more likely thanks to human-induced global warming.
Hurricane Patricia as it made landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico.
NASA/NOAA
False complacency: Hurricane Patricia didn’t devastate Mexico as feared, but provides more evidence that warming waters raise the chances of more intense storms.
Part of the coal loading facility at Kooragang Island, NSW.
Flickr/eyeweed
The Academy says it will withdraw “millions of dollars” from investments in environmentally sensitive activities, primarily in energy and mining companies.
The University of California intends to be carbon-neutral by 2025 by implementing existing technologies and focusing on public education. Is this a model for decarbonizing at large scale?
Is carbon offsetting little more than a bandaid on a much bigger climate problem?
0-style/flickr
The United Nations is promoting a website to measure, reduce and offset your personal carbon emissions. But will this fix climate change?
To limit global warming to 2C we can’t emit more than another trillion tonnes of greenhouse gases. Burning fossil fuels is a major source.
Coal power image from www.shutterstock.com
Research shows that El Niño creates conditions for a certain type of hurricane – and offers clues as to how climate change can affect the severity of hurricanes.
Temperatures are set to rocket throughout the 21st century, but design lessons from history could help the gulf states stay cool.
Evacuees gather at a rescue centre after this month’s floods in the Philippines. But for many women the danger doesn’t end here.
EPA/Francis R. Malasig/AAP
Climate change isn’t gender-neutral. The effects are likely to hit the world’s poorest women hardest of all, because they are more likely to lack the resources to escape natural disasters or disease.
Justin Trudeau displaced Stephen Harper, an avowed friend of the fossil fuel industry, as Canada’s prime minister.
Chris Wattie/Reuters
Two politicians known to oppose action on climate change – Canada’s Stephen Harper and Australia’s Tony Abbott – have been displaced. What does this say about climate as a voter issue?
Coal no more? The rise of renewables and climate action will spell an end to Australia’s coal industry.
Coal image from www.shutterstock.com
Australia’s failure to reassess its commitment to coal will have serious negative consequences, not only for Australia’s economy, but for the health and well being of millions of people and the global environment.
The Copenhagen talks generated huge interest - but an underwhelming result.
EPA/Jens Norgaard Larsen
The stakes could scarcely be higher at December’s climate summit in Paris, described as the world’s best chance of averting climate catastrophe. The Conversation will be there to see if the talks can deliver.
Photosynthesis is crucial to the ability of plants to convert sunlight into energy.
N i c o l a/Flickr
Distinguished Professor Graham Farquhar has received this year’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for his pioneering research into photosynthesis.
Island universities are unavoidably at one with the elements. This offers rich opportunities for studying these elements - like the oceans.
REUTERS/Susana Vera