The Hopeful Return of Polar Whales

The bleak history of whaling pushed many species to the brink of extinction, even in the remote waters of the north and south poles. Over 1.3 million whales were killed in just 70 years around Antarctica alone.

Producers and retailers of everything from toilet paper to homes want you to believe that their product is “green”. More are “greenwashing” their products. Greenwashing is the misleading claims of environmental benefits...

Creative destruction “is the essential fact about capitalism”, wrote the great Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. 

Global emissions are expected to decline by about 7% in 2020 (or 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide) compared to 2019 — an unprecedented drop due to the slowdown in economic activity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate change is now climate crisis and a climate sceptic now a climate denier, according to the recently updated style guide of The Guardian news organisation.

With global travel curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are finding comfort in planning future trips.

The gold standard of research in science is the randomised controlled trial. The COVID-19 restrictions may at times seem random and most certainly feel like a trial. But are they controlled enough to learn from?

Australia doesn’t yet export renewable energy. But the writing is on the wall: demand for Australia’s fossil fuel exports is likely to dwindle soon, and we must replace it at massive scale.

As California contends with its worst wildfire season in history, it’s more evident than ever that land management practices in the state’s forested mountains need major changes.

I am wondering about the climate impact of vegan meat versus beef. How does a highly processed patty compare to butchered beef? How does agriculture of soy (if this is the ingredient) compare to grazing of beef?

Demand for fossil fuels collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown measures were introduced. In the second quarter of 2020,

Summer temperatures in Chicago normally peak in the low 80s, but in mid-July 1995 they topped 100 F with excessive humidity for three days straight.

It’s an uncomfortable but inescapable historic fact that great pandemics often bring about social reform.

How do you respond to a crisis? It’s obvious that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatically different to anything provoked by repeated scientific warnings about climate change.

Achieving the Paris Climate Agreement goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C requires a worldwide transformation to carbon-neutral societies within the next 30 years.

To get people to stop and pay attention, successful advertising delivers information simply and with an emotional hook so that consumers notice and, hopefully, make a purchase.

Noisy reefs are a very good thing. So good, in fact, that we might be able to use the sound of healthy coral reefs to improve the quickly increasing number of degraded ones.

Have you ever wondered how our native wildlife manage to stay alive when an inferno is ripping through their homes, and afterwards when there is little to eat and nowhere to hide?

Climate researchers have not given up hope and authors were asked to highlight some more positive stories from 2019.

Society’s defining issues are rarely presented as raw facts and stats, and climate change is no exception.

In shouting “system change not climate change”, young people understand that the 3-4℃ warmer world we’re headed for would be far more painful, costly and disruptive than any short-term costs or inconvenience we face from taking rapid, bold action.

Climate plans are the order of the day in the presidential primary campaign because carbon pollution is a global threat of unique proportions.

Cities are on the front line of climate change. While their footprints cover a mere two per cent of the Earth’s surface, they consume 78 per cent of global energy and account for over 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Spring and summer 2017 were among the wettest on record in eastern North America.

Droughts are a natural feature of the Australian environment. But the Millennium drought (or “Big Dry”), which ran from 1997 to 2010, was a wake-up call even by our parched standards.

The devastating impacts of Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria across the United States and the Caribbean provide tragic reminders of the catastrophic risks we face on our coasts.

This year, three studies showed that humour is useful for engaging the public about climate change.

When faced with a rapidly advancing fire threatening a community, it can be hard to know how best to save lives.

How do we go about designing buildings today for tomorrow’s weather? As the world warms and extreme weather becomes more common, sustainable architecture is likely to mean one major casualty: glass.

There’s little that the left and the right agree on these days. But surely one thing is beyond question: that national governments must protect citizens from the gravest threats and risks they face.

Australians eat a lot of water – the water that is used to produce our food. New findings from our Foodprint Melbourne study estimate that more than 475 litres of water is used to grow each person’s food every day.

In the past seven years, four major disasters have caused serious disruptions in the Northeast and Midwest United States. 

A recent study showed that North Americans are becoming less tolerant of uncertainty.

The Catholic Church “hears the cry” of the Amazon and its peoples. That’s the message Pope Francis hopes to send at the Synod of the Amazon, a three-week meeting at the Vatican that ends Oct. 27, 2019..

Standing in the middle of a usually busy central London street during Extinction Rebellion’s protests, the air noticeably cleaner, the area quieter, I was struck by the enormity of the challenge ahead of us.

Deadly fires across California over the past several years have shown how wildfire has become a serious public health and safety issue.

Urban flooding represents the most common yet severe environmental threat to cities and towns worldwide. Future changes in rainfall extremes are likely to increase this threat, even in areas that could become drier.

The world’s supply of cheap and clean fresh water will likely plummet as the climate warms and populations boom. Can we find ways to conserve, cut waste, and find new sources before it’s too late?

Globally, about two billion people suffer from “hidden hunger” – a chronic deficiency of vitamins and minerals.

Climate change is not inherently funny. Typically, the messengers are serious scientists describing how rising greenhouse gas emissions are harming the planet on land and at sea, or assessing what role it played in the latest wildfire or hurricane.

 
The flames consuming the Amazon rainforest this year have alarmed the world, renewing concerns about one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions and the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere

We are living in a time of extraordinary ecological loss. Not only are human actions destabilising the very conditions that sustain life, but it is also increasingly clear that we are pushing the Earth into an entirely new geological era, often described as the Anthropocene.

Behind the scenes during hurricanes and other disasters, scores of public information officers in state and local government agencies are fixed to their screens – often in 24-hour shifts

Sometimes even the largest natural wonders can remain hidden from human view for centuries.

Honey bees are under extreme pressure. The number of honey bee colonies in the US has been declining at an average rate of almost 40% since 2010.

Attempts to maintain the “natural beauty” of Southern California beaches are actually having a massive negative impact on the beach ecosystem overall, a new study warns.

Bali’s Green School recently celebrated its first decade of educating toddlers through teenagers (and their digital nomad parents) about eco-ethical design and cooperative living.

Over the past seven years more than 100 research projects at the Co-operative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, in collaboration with industry across Australia, have pondered a very big question

The recent spate of heatwaves through eastern Australia has reminded us we’re in an Australian summer.

Water is essential for human life, but in many parts of the world water supplies are under threat from more extreme, less predictable weather conditions due to climate change. 

As most of the science community knows, the climate emergency is here now. Weather extremes such as droughts and heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity and are measurably exacerbated by climate change.

In conservation, charismatic mammals and birds such as the black rhinoceros and the capercaillie get a lot of attention, while others, like invertebrates, are often ignored. 

Most people want to be sustainable, but have a hard time taking the necessary actions.

Imagine “carbon emissions”, and what springs to mind? Most people tend to think of power stations belching out clouds of carbon dioxide or queues of vehicles burning up fossil fuels as they crawl, bumper-to-bumper, along congested urban roads.

The aloe plant’s ability to survive extended periods of drought could contribute to more resilient crops.

In their second round of debates, Democratic presidential candidates called for aggressive measures to slow climate change.

Climate change is outpacing the ability of birds and other species to adapt to their changing environment, researchers report.

Bringing nature back into our cities can deliver a truly impressive array of benefits, ranging from health and well-being to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

I am a scientist who researches climate hazards. I have published research on the potential for a catastrophic cyclone-heatwave combo in the global south.

The blackcurrant harvest on my allotment is highly dependent on the weather. In 2018 the UK had a hot, dry summer and the currants were sweet and plentiful.

Management that takes evolution and adaptation into account can help rescue coral reefs from the effects of climate change, according to a new study.

Every tree in a forest has a neighbour. In many forest neighbourhoods, the same species are often found living together, especially when the growing conditions are similar. Sometimes these neighbours are close and sometimes far apart, but collectively they form part of a community, with some species naturally being more dominant than others, especially in terms of biomass production. 

New Orleans averted disaster this month when tropical storm Barry delivered less rain in the Crescent City than forecasters originally feared.

There are serious challenges to global food supply everywhere we look.

Agriculture plays a key role in food security in Africa. It is also crucial to the economic sector, accounting for between 40%-65% of jobs.

Elephants have long captivated our attention, partly because of their sheer size and majesty. But we’re also struck by their complex behaviour.

Coral reefs are home to so many species that they often are called “the rainforests of the seas.”

The next great agricultural revolution is here. Wine growers have a neat, if unusual, trick for making more flavorful wine — don’t water the vines

Biomining is the kind of technique promised by science fiction: a vast tank filled with microorganisms that leach metal from ore, old mobile phones and hard drives.

If we’re serious about feeding the world’s growing population healthy food, and not ruining the planet, we need to get used to a new style of eating.

Removing salts and other impurities from water is really difficult. For thousands of years people, including Aristotle, tried to make fresh water from sea water.

In cities around the world, trees are often planted to help control temperatures and mitigate the effects of the “urban heat island”. But while trees have been called “nature’s air conditioners”, in practice, scientists often have difficulty demonstrating their cooling properties.

Climate change is already occurring, with impacts that will become more intense for decades into the future.

This summer, wildfires erupted in California, torrential rains flooded parts of Japan, and record-breaking temperatures led to a number of heat-related deaths around the globe. Disasters like these are augmented by climate change, and scientists say extreme weather like this will increase and worsen as climate change accelerates. And it’s impacting our mental health.

Local people collect water from a muddy waterhole in 2006 in San Marcos Tlacoyalco. The Tehuacan Valley South-East of Mexico City has long experienced severe water shortages. Drought and climate change have contributed to this but recent industrial growth has also strained the very limited ground water resource. Water resources in the area are largely based on a weekly delivery by truck as well as collecting water from small pools known as Jagueys.

A more strategic approach to urban growth can ensure our cities maintain adequate green space and become low-carbon, efficient and affordable.

Far from protecting U.S. interests, the tariffs are bound to stifle the current solar boom, destroying American jobs and dragging down clean energy innovation. As economists who research climate and energy policies that can foster a greener North American economy, we argue the government should instead create targeted subsidies that support innovation and lower costs across the supply chain.

You don’t need a supercomputer to predict how the weather above your head is likely to change over the next few hours – this has been known across cultures for millennia. By keeping an eye on the skies above you, and knowing a little about how clouds form, you can predict whether rain is on the way.

Most of us have a range of white goods (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) in our homes. These white goods provide a host of benefits, but they also have significant environmental impacts, and it’s important to consider these when using and choosing white goods.

To maintain our capacity to address climate change, we need to recognize and address the trauma it creates.

The election of the sixth Labour-led government heralds a new direction for climate change policy in New Zealand. As part of the new government’s 100-day priority plan, it pledged to set a target of carbon neutrality by 2050 and to establish the mechanisms to phase out fossil fuels.

Remember the movie “Moneyball”? The Oakland A’s are struggling, financially and on the baseball field.Then they introduce an innovative system for figuring out which players will improve team performance.

Beef gets a bad press, environmentally speaking. We’re bombarded with reports highlighting its high carbon footprint accompanied by images of belching cows and devastated rainforests.

A 12-year “hurricane drought” during which no major hurricanes formed in the Atlantic ended dramatically in 2017. The devastating impacts of Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria across the United States and the Caribbean provide tragic reminders of the catastrophic risks we face on our coasts.

A new report indicates that almost half of native California salmon, steelhead, and trout species are on track to be extinct in the next 50 years.

2016-17 has been a great year for Australian farmers, with record production, exports and profits. These records have been driven largely by good weather, in particular a wet winter in 2016, which led to exceptional yields for major crops

President Trump, congressional Republicans and most American farmers share common positions on climate change

Last year in Paris, for the very first time, English sparkling wine beat champagne in a blind tasting event.

An ever-changing climate can put certain regions in the crosshairs of coastal flooding, heavy rain, erosion, and other risks.

African nations have overwhelmingly included climate resilient agriculture in their indicative pledges to the United Nations. And agriculture is seen as a major focus through a common position of the African Union on climate adaptation.

Conversations about climate change often derail into arguments about whether global warming exists, whether climate change is already happening, the extent to which human activity is a cause and which beliefs are based in evidence versus propaganda.

President Donald Trump has the environmental community understandably concerned.

Finding the optimum environment and avoiding uninhabitable conditions has been a challenge faced by species throughout the history of life on Earth.

In 2011, a marine heatwave hit the west coast of Australia leading to ten days of above average sea temperatures.

At the UN Climate Negotiations in Paris the world agreed to keep global warming to well below 2°C, above pre-industrial levels.

The soaring temperatures of recent hottest years on record will be the norm by 2040, with Australia first to feel the heat.

Educating rural communities can help them prevent permanent damage to the environment. There is a common misconception that you can’t talk about climate change in rural communities because the issue is considered too polarizing...

People depend on grass crops for food, but new research raises concerns that if climate changes too fast, grasses won’t adapt fast enough to keep pace.

Scientists show how humans can improve poor people’s lives by reversing practices that destroy the environment and fuel climate change.

With every passing year, Southeast Florida faces more pressure to adapt to climate change. The region already experiences the effects of climate change, such as flooding on sunny days during the highest tides of the year