Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Scientists puzzled by soaring global methane levels
12 Jul 2022
Methane concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere are soaring—and the exact causes of the "frightening" increase are puzzling scientists
How climate change is making extreme weather a regular occurrence
12 Jul 2022
Torrential rains in Japan, record-breaking heatwaves in Europe, and recurring droughts in the western US. For the second year in a row the start of summer in the northern hemisphere has been marked by extreme weather. To what extent is global warming to blame?
Best by the rest…
8 Jul 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: Offshore oil and gas exploration goes ahead despite bans; indigenous forests’ carbon sequestration superpowers; and is romanticising New Zealand’s colonial past hindering our climate response?
Waikato student wins scholarship to study Antarctic carbon release hotspots
7 Jul 2022
A Waikato student has won a $20,000 scholarship to study possible carbon dioxide release hotspots in the Southern Ocean.
Climate change forcing nature reserves to adapt, warns new report
7 Jul 2022
Projects to help wildlife adapt to habitats affected by climate change will become more commonplace, warned a new report.
No power, no fans, no AC: The villagers fighting to survive India’s deadly heatwaves
6 Jul 2022
Suman Shakya wants me to touch the concrete wall of her bedroom, where her one-year-old son lies soaked with sweat. It burns my hand as if it were a hot pan. “Now imagine sitting in front of a hot pan in this weather for as long as it takes to make rotis for the whole family,” she says.
Voices from Vanuatu: life on the climate crisis frontline
6 Jul 2022
Vanuatu is at the front line of the fight against climate change. This low-lying chain of 80 islands strung across the ocean, with a population of just under 300,000, is the world’s most at-risk country for natural disasters, as measured by the UN World Risk Report 2021.
Youth climate case moves to top tribunal in European Court
5 Jul 2022
The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday that a complaint against 33 countries filed by six young Portuguese climate activists will be examined by the tribunal’s top panel of judges, a move reflecting the case’s legal significance.
Deadly glacier collapse in Italy "linked directly to climate change"
5 Jul 2022
Italian prime minister Mario Draghi joined scientists in pointing to the climate emergency as the cause of a deadly glacier collapse in the Italian Alps on Sunday afternoon, saying policymakers must act to ensure avalanches don't become a more regular occurrence.
Sydney is flooded, again, as climate crisis becomes new normal for Australia's most populous state
5 Jul 2022
On a fine day, locals arrive on boats that motor up the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales to dine on the back deck of the Paradise Café.
Restoring nature is not a silver bullet for global warming, we must cut emissions outright
5 Jul 2022
Restoring degraded environments, such as by planting trees, is often touted as a solution to the climate crisis. But our new research shows this, while important, is no substitute for preventing fossil fuel emissions to limit global warming.
Climate change threatens coffee growers in Tanzania
4 Jul 2022
Coffee-growing farmers in Tanzania’s northern Kilimanjaro region are bearing the brunt of climate change, which is affecting their incomes and livelihoods.
Councils take aim at climate crisis
1 Jul 2022
More local authorities are taking aim at the climate crisis, with Queenstown Lakes District Council and Hamilton City Council both adopting climate policies yesterday.
Best by the rest…
1 Jul 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: questions about new carbon offsets; wrestling with methane metrics; and He Waka Eke Noa’s programme director argues Kiwi innovation will be key to reducing emissions.
Pandemic slashes NZTE’s carbon emissions by nearly 70%
29 Jun 2022
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s first sustainability report shows the pandemic slashed a whopping 68.8% from the government agency’s carbon emissions.
NZ not doing enough to prevent deaths from extreme weather worsened by climate change
28 Jun 2022
Negative health consequences from extreme weather in New Zealand could increase because of climate change and the country needs to do more to prevent and manage these threats, researchers say.
Commonwealth adopts historic accord to combat climate change through land use
27 Jun 2022
Commonwealth leaders last week adopted the “Living Lands Charter”, which commits all member countries to safeguarding global land resources while taking coordinated action on climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable land management.
Greenpeace, Green Party call for stronger action on deforestation imports
23 Jun 2022
Greenpeace says a bill aimed at preventing unsustainable timber imports will do little to save the world’s rainforests or end human rights abuses.
How climate change is knocking natural events wildly out of sync
22 Jun 2022
Climate change is throwing off the timing of key events in the natural world, from the flowering of plants to the migrations of birds and mammals. Now, ecologists are warning that this could spiral out of control and cause whole ecosystems to break down.
Is moss a climate change superhero in disugise?
21 Jun 2022
Ask most gardeners what they think of moss and the chances are you will get a string of expletives in return.
Climate change leading to earlier and earlier heatwaves, scientists say
20 Jun 2022
As France grapples with a particularly intense heatwave this weekend, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country, meteorologists say the increasingly early arrival of heatwaves is directly linked to global warming due to human activities.
President Sheikh Mohamed pledges $50 billion to tackle climate change at Biden meeting
20 Jun 2022
UAE president Sheikh Mohamed has pledged $50 billion to address climate change across the world after taking part in a meeting hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Best by the rest...
17 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: The leaky logic of the farming sector's climate plan; analysis of how effective government policies will be at slashing carbon; and can governments boost defence spending while cutting emissions at the same time?
New England Medical Journal weighs in climate change
17 Jun 2022
The New England Journal of Medicine kicks off a series of articles Thursday with an examination of the effects of air pollution on children’s health.
NZ agrees to help finance Samoa's climate goals
16 Jun 2022
New Zealand has agreed to help Samoa finance its climate goals, including its Nationally Determined Contribution, national climate adaptation plan, and a goal of 100% renewable energy generation by 2025.
In hottest city on Earth, mothers bear brunt of climate change
16 Jun 2022
Heavily pregnant Sonari toils under the burning sun in fields dotted with bright yellow melons in Jacobabad, which last month became the hottest city on Earth.
'We beg God for water': Chilean lake turns to desert, sounding climate change alarm
14 Jun 2022
The Penuelas reservoir in central Chile was until twenty years ago the main source of water for the city of Valparaiso, holding enough water for 38,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Water for only two pools now remains.
Climate change is fuelling global food price inflation and shortages
14 Jun 2022
With climate change producing mounting harms throughout the world, as well as the war in Ukraine raging on, the issue of a global food price inflation and shortages has reached international attention. Food security is not a new phenomenon, but one that has existed for years now, backgrounded against more pressing concerns.
Plugging methane leaks is a powerful climate fix, so why aren't we doing it?
14 Jun 2022
The oil and gas industry is choking the atmosphere with a heat-trapping gas stronger than CO2 — despite cheap, fast and easy fixes.
Fifty years after UN's Stockholm Environment Conference vision of a "healthy planet" no closer
13 Jun 2022
Diplomats from countries around the world gathered here last week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment—the meeting that made the environment a prominent international issue.
Phasing out coal could generate ‘social benefits’ worth $78 trillion
13 Jun 2022
Replacing coal with renewable energy would greatly benefit society, according to a new working paper from Imperial College Business School.
Fiji says climate change, not conflict, is Asia's biggest security threat
13 Jun 2022
Fiji's defence minister said on Sunday that climate change posed the biggest security threat in the Asia-Pacific region, a shift in tone at a defence summit that has been dominated by the war in Ukraine and disputes between China and the United States.
Climate change looms large over indigenous biodiversity discussion document
10 Jun 2022
Climate change is repeatedly identified as one of the major threats to indigenous biodiversity in a government discussion document launched yesterday.
Best by the rest...
10 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: Climate change driving extreme autumn weather; the view from Tuvalu on the climate crisis; and how the government broke its own climate rules to subsidise airlines.
Auckland Council approves Climate Action Budget
8 Jun 2022
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff’s Climate Action Budget was approved yesterday, with a clear majority of councillors supporting it at a Finance and Performance Committee meeting.
“Limited time:” World will lock in 1.5°C warming by 2025 without big emissions cuts
8 Jun 2022
The world faces a greater than 50 per cent chance of locking in global warming of more than 1.5°C unless greenhouse gas emissions can be dramatically reduced before 2025, new research suggests.
Feedback loops: How the ‘greening’ of the Alps could lead to more warming
8 Jun 2022
It seems like every year a report is released documenting the scale of snow or ice loss in the Arctic. But, what about the climate significance of rising temperatures in snowy regions nowhere near the Poles? A recent study from researchers at University of Lausanne and the University of Basel has explored this exact question as it pertains to the European Alps.
Singapore's dengue 'emergency' is a climate change omen for the world
8 Jun 2022
Singapore says it is facing a dengue "emergency" as it grapples with an outbreak of the seasonal disease that has come unusually early this year.
Bonn climate conference: World is "cooked" if we carry on with coal: US
7 Jun 2022
The US envoy on climate change John Kerry has warned that the war in Ukraine must not be used as an excuse to prolong global reliance on coal.
Best by the rest...
3 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: The farming lobby split over climate policy; the Reserve Bank takes on fuel prices; and Australia pledges climate action in the Pacific.
Urgent and additional measures are needed if Ireland is to meet the climate targets it has set for itself
3 Jun 2022
Urgent and additional measures are needed if Ireland is to meet the climate targets it has set for itself, the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said in a newly released report.
What is black carbon, and what does it mean for climate change?
3 Jun 2022
Antarctica, the vast and frozen continent that holds much of the world’s freshwater, appears to the imagination as an unchanging giant. Indeed, most of this remote territory remains free of human habitation and landscape changes.
Wetland regulations welcomed by industry, attacked by Forest and Bird
2 Jun 2022
Forest and Bird says the government’s announcement that it will allow coal mining and other industries to operate on remaining wetlands is disastrous for the climate and biodiversity.
Auckland's billion-dollar climate budget
2 Jun 2022
Auckland Council's billion-dollar package to help tackle the climate crisis is a step closer, with the proposed annual budget for 2022-2023 released yesterday.
Record methane spike boosts heat trapped by greenhouse gases
2 Jun 2022
Greenhouse gases trapped 49 percent more heat in 2021 than in 1990, as emissions continued to rise rapidly, according to NOAA.
Cities need new types of pavement capable of absorbing a flood. This team has a customized recipe
2 Jun 2022
Climate change is altering rainfall patterns, making storms more intense in many locations. Meanwhile, more people are moving to cities around the world. The combination of those two trends adds up to an increased risk of urban flooding.
Canterbury cuts its planting programme
1 Jun 2022
Canterbury’s regional council is cutting nearly $3 million from its planting programme, almost two-thirds of the planned spend over 2 years, in a bid to reduce a predicted 24% rate rise.
The US has fallen way behind on climate goals
1 Jun 2022
The US is doing a pretty horrible job of following through on promises it’s made to tackle climate change, according to two separate new studies.
China’s climate change Pacific reset
31 May 2022
By Jeremy Rose | Last month saw the opening of the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Action Cooperation Centre in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. It’s opening, perhaps not surprisingly, barely rated a mention in the New Zealand and Australian media.
Climate breakdown threatens economic breakdown
31 May 2022
Climate breakdown impacts could cause damage to the UK equivalent to cutting the size of the economy by at least 7.4 percent by the end of this century, unless there are stronger reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Today 11:45am
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Why the real oil crisis hasn’t started yet
Today 11:45am
If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed much longer, things will get really bad, really fast.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
Thu 26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Today 11:45am
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Today 11:45am
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
‘Even more bonkers now’ – energy expert on LNG terminal
Today 11:45am
By Liz Kivi | An energy consultant says the Government’s plan to back an LNG import facility is a “non-starter” in the face of rising gas prices due to the Middle East conflict.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Double danger? Climate change, El Niño push Earth 'beyond its limits'
Today 11:45am
A freakish March heat wave has already pushed temperatures to summertime levels throughout much of the western and central United States, but a new report comes with a dire warning: This is just the beginning.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Today 11:45am
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
Tue 31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
Thu 26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
Fri 27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
24 Mar 2026
Media release | A high-tech plasma torch was lit up today as Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, officially opened the $10 million National Refrigerant Destruction Facility – signalling a new era in addressing the environmental impact of New Zealand’s most potent greenhouse gases.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
Why the Iran war may have just killed the AI boom
Thu 26 Mar 2026
The $1.5 trillion in committed AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies is built on an assumption of a functional global supply chain, which the Iran conflict has fundamentally broken.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Today 11:45am
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
