The rights-of-nature movement emerged as a response to economic pressures on ecosystems. But the success of projects depends on how well legal liability is defined.
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Some 7,000 years ago, West Antarctica’s ice sheet retreated, most likely driven by warmer ocean currents slipping under the ice. This could happen again – unless we cut emissions fast.
Pollution on land inevitably ends up in the sea. Policy makers must stop working in silos and instead consider the indirect consequences human impacts on land have for marine environments.
The common triplefin is helping marine scientists understand the negative effects of ‘skyglow’ on coastal fish, which are already more exposed to microplastics, chemicals and noise pollution.
If a new declaration based on customary concepts of tikanga and mana is recognised by the courts, it could potentially give interest groups the legal standing to sue on behalf of whales.
Quality mental healthcare requires more than training clinicians. They also need to be supported to implement their knowledge in the therapy room.
Ocean warming seems the main driver of Antarctica’s sea-ice loss. But as satellites show, the change is not universal and sea ice persists in East Antarctica and the Weddell Sea.
Geoengineering proposals to cool the ocean would indeed reduce ice loss from West Antarctica’s glaciers, but not enough to stop sea-level rise or allow the ice sheet to regrow.
Marine protection represents our best strategy to reverse declining biodiversity. But protected areas also provide a low-tech and cost-effective way for the fishing industry to safeguard stocks.
Winemakers need to understand the full extent of climate change impacts on the industry, including how changes in temperature and humidity may affect the microbes that ferment grapes.
Monitoring methods based on environmental DNA are faster, more comprehensive and cheaper than traditional ecological surveys. They help fill gaps in New Zealand’s data on river health.
New Zealand’s plants and animals are globally unique and underpin primary production and tourism. The government’s fast-tracking proposal threatens to erode the natural capital the economy relies on.
New research comparing the geology of southern Africa with the deep seafloor near New Zealand challenges conventional views of how the planet behaved when it was very young.
Long lifespans and slow reproduction rates make deep-water sharks and rays as vulnerable to overexploitation as whales once were. We must place them under protection to avoid extinctions.
An estimated 13 trillion litres of ice has already been lost from glaciers in New Zealand’s Southern Alps since 1978. Several are now approaching extinction.
The world is on track to exceed 2°C warming within the next five years, with dire consequences for polar ice, mountain glaciers and permafrost – and human society.
Technologies such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence are making it easier to gather more accurate data on biodiversity. Developing these digital tools will help vital ecosystem restoration.
Seafloor sediments from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf represent an archive of warmer periods in Earth’s past. An ambitious international project aims to uncover what we can learn about our hotter future.
New Zealand cities grow mostly through building houses on undeveloped land. But this removes fertile soil and undermines the food production and other ecological functions city dwellers depend on.
Bacterial DNA extracted from soil includes many genes whose function remains unknown. The novel enzymes these genes code for could be useful in efforts to clean up persistent pollutants.
Top contributors
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Professor in Ocean Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand
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Associate Professor of Applied Geology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Senior Research Fellow, University of Canterbury
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Professor of Glaciology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Morgan Foundation Senior Research Fellow in Freshwater Ecology and Environmental Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science
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Distinguished Scholar, NCAR; Affiliate Faculty, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Professor of Environmental Genomics, Curtin University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Lecturer in Ecology, University of Otago
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Associate Professor in Geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Senior Researcher, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
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Senior Lecturer in Child Psychiatry and Paediatrics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Professor, Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University
