Topics tagged with 'Science'
Flooding wetlands could be the next big carbon capture hack
24 Aug 2022
Arriving at the tidal wetlands of Mungalla Station on the coastline of northern Queensland, ornithologist Simon Kennedy from the not-for-profit BirdLife Australia is greeted by a welcome cacophony. “You start hearing honks and quacks and twitters and noises coming from there,” he says of the area’s diverse and thriving bird populations, “whereas it’s very quiet elsewhere.”
Up to 90% of marine species could be at high or critical risk from GHGs: study
24 Aug 2022
The fate of nearly all marine species could be at risk of extinction by the end of the century if greenhouse gases continue to be emitted at current rates, scientists are warning in a new study.
New satellite will see how much carbon is being stored in forests
23 Aug 2022
In a dust-free cleanroom in Stevenage, the European Space Agency's BIOMASS satellite is finally taking shape.
How a humpback whale superhighway is offering warnings about climate change
22 Aug 2022
During winter Australia's east coast becomes a migratory superhighway for humpback whales, a so-called "blue corridor".
Organic dairy farming can store carbon and reduce GHG emissions: study
19 Aug 2022
A new study in the August issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production reveals that it is possible for farms to sequester carbon and reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. A University of Wisconsin Madison research group unveiled a dairy lifecycle assessment conducted on Organic Valley farms that shows small organic dairy farms, which focus on grazing and organic production techniques, are low greenhouse gas champions.
Climate-resilient breadfruit might be the food of the future
18 Aug 2022
In the face of climate change, breadfruit soon might come to a dinner plate near you.
Carbon capture rate overstated: IEEFA
18 Aug 2022
The efficacy of industrial carbon capture technology is being overstated, according to new research from US think tank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Tel Aviv has shade down to a science
17 Aug 2022
Along the tree-lined sidewalks of Tel Aviv’s Atidim Park, a business and commercial district in the north of the city, a curious new addition to the urban canopy arrived a few months ago.
Carbon market could offset Australia’s huge fire recovery bill
16 Aug 2022
\Australian scientists have put a dollar figure on the cost of recovery and restoration of native flora and fauna after the 2019-2020 summer bushfires.
This climate action tracker shows what we’re doing right - and wrong - on the road to net-zero emissions
16 Aug 2022
Is the world making progress on tackling climate change? Or is it stalling?
MIT researchers propose apace bubbles to stop climate change
15 Aug 2022
Climate change is a real problem. Human caused outputs of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are the main driver of an unprecedented rise in global average temperatures at a speed never before seen in the Earth’s geologic record. The problem is so bad that any attempts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions may be too little and too late. And so a team based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have proposed a radical new solution: bubbles…in space.
Last month was one of the warmest Julys on record, says UN
11 Aug 2022
Last month marked one of the three hottest Julys ever recorded, with global temperatures measuring nearly half a degree Celsius above average, the United Nations’ weather agency has said
Experts say the net zero concept is often used to delay taking action against emissions
11 Aug 2022
As large parts of Europe and North America swelter and then ignite, a future of endless climate destruction seems inevitable.
Climate change is making 58% of infectious diseases worse
10 Aug 2022
More than half of the infectious diseases known to impact humans are being aggravated by climate change, scientists reported Monday in a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Climate change may increase mortality rate due to excess heat by six times: Lancet study
10 Aug 2022
Climate change may increase the mortality rate due to excessive heat six times by the end of the century, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.
Climate change will push whales further south
9 Aug 2022
Climate change will send New Zealand’s iconic marine giants south, further destabilising local marine ecosystems as well as threatening Kaikoura’s tourism industry, according to new research.
A volcano is erupting again in Iceland. Is climate change causing more eruptions?
9 Aug 2022
The Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland began erupting again on Wednesday after eight months of slumber – so far without any adverse impacts on people or air traffic.
Kānuka could provide lucrative combined carbon-fixing regime
5 Aug 2022
By Liz Kivi | Kānuka could provide an alternative to pine plantations on marginal land, following a groundbreaking study showing kanuka oil as an effective treatment for eczema.
Global forest area declined by 60% since 1960, study finds
5 Aug 2022
A new study has found an alarming loss in forest areas globally, including that global forest area per capita has dropped from 1.4 hectares in 1960 to just 0.5 hectares per person by 2019, a 60% decline.
How climate change is muting nature’s symphony
4 Aug 2022
When Jeff Wells, vice president for boreal conservation at the Audubon Society, first encountered the call of the common loon on a pond near Mt. Vernon, Maine — about an hour and a half north of Portland — he thought he may have heard a ghoul. “I leaped out of bed and ran into my parents’ bedroom, like, ‘What is that?’” he told Grist, describing a melancholy wail that has made loons famous far beyond the birding community.
Scientists say it’s ‘fatally foolish’ to not study catastrophic climate outcomes
3 Aug 2022
As global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, some climate scientists say it’s time to start paying more attention to the most extreme, worst-case outcomes, including the potential for widespread extinctions, mass climate migration and the disintegration of social and political systems.
Offshore wind’s turbulent future
2 Aug 2022
When it’s completed, Norway’s Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm. Compared with most wind farms—even other offshore wind farms—the Hywind Tampen is unusual: the 88-megawatt operation is located farther out to sea than almost any other wind farm to date. Floating 140 kilometers offshore, the turbines will sit in water between 260 and 300 meters deep.
How is the jet stream connected to simultaneous heat waves across the globe?
1 Aug 2022
The deadly heat waves that have fueled blazes and caused transport disruptions in Europe, the U.S. and China this month have one thing in common: a peculiar shape in the jet stream dubbed “wavenumber 5.”
How forests lost 8,000 years of stored carbon in a few generations
29 Jul 2022
"Plant a tree" seems to be the go-to answer to climate change concerns these days. Booking a rental car online recently, I was asked to check a box to plant a tree to offset my car's anticipated carbon dioxide emissions.
Soot from rockets has 500 times the climate impact as soot from airplanes
28 Jul 2022
Air pollutants released by rocket launches, re-entry, and space debris have a disproportionate effect on global warming, according to a new study. They also have the potential to undo some of the recovery of the ozone layer achieved by the Montreal Protocol, the 1987 treaty regulating ozone-depleting substances that is considered one of the most successful examples of international environmental action in history.
The world’s top 10 “carbon bombs” and what they mean for climate change
28 Jul 2022
Much has been done by countless people, organizations, businesses and leaders to stave off the effects of climate change. Over decades, concerned individuals have changed their diets, switched to renewable energy, taken organized action and invested money in a desperate bid to save future generations from the hardships of living in a world heated beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Supervolcano study indicates carbon dioxide emissions key to avoid climate change
28 Jul 2022
A new study has linked the volume and speed of carbon dioxide emissions from supervolcanoes to past environmental crises. According to the researchers, the findings are instrumental in understanding how to prevent future climate disasters.
US to plant a billion trees
27 Jul 2022
The Biden administration says the government will plant more than one billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands in the U.S. West, as officials struggle to counter the increasing toll on the nation's forests from wildfires, insects and other manifestations of climate change.
When does planting trees make sense?
27 Jul 2022
Trees can be powerful allies in the fight against global heating because they can trap CO2 and lock it away. But planting billions more of them won't be enough to save the climate.
The case for paying carbon taxes on unsustainable food
26 Jul 2022
Minimizing the risk of living on an unlivable planet requires significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through various means, like shifting to renewable energy and electrifying sectors that rely on fossil fuels.
Why is it so hard to get people to care about climate change? A neuroscientist and a psychologist shed light
22 Jul 2022
Portugal, France, Spain and Greece are on fire - and, recently, so was the UK. Record 40C heat fuelled dozens of blazes around the country, and saw the busiest day for London's firefighters since the Second World War.
Growing crops in darkness could save land and advance sustainable agricultural
21 Jul 2022
Like something out of a science fiction film, researchers have managed to grow plants in complete darkness, potentially paving a path for food production that’s decoupled from the land.
How secretive methane leaks are driving climate change
20 Jul 2022
There is an open secret in the oil and gas industry and it is feeding the climate crisis.
Are cities ready for extreme heat?
19 Jul 2022
The first chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future takes my breath away. Not just because I can almost feel the heat and humidity dripping off the pages, but because I know that—although the story is fictional—similar scenes are already playing out in real life.
Millions more at risk from dangerous summer temperatures if climate goals aren't met
15 Jul 2022
Health-threatening heatwaves will become more intense due to climate change, putting millions more people at risk from dangerous summer temperatures, new research has revealed.
Forests are becoming less resilient because of climate change
14 Jul 2022
Climate change has been linked with a widespread decline in the ability of many of the world’s forests to bounce back after events such as drought and logging.
Rich nations caused climate harm to poorer ones, study says
13 Jul 2022
Scientists, officials and activists have long called out the inequity in national histories on greenhouse gas emissions with rich nations benefiting and poor ones hurting from global warming, and now a study published Tuesday aims to calculate just how much economic impact large emitters have caused to other nations.
Species extinction threatens the livelihoods of billions: new report
12 Jul 2022
With billions of people depending on wild flora and fauna for food, medicine, and energy, a million species are at risk of extinction due to the combined impacts of climate change, other forms of pollution, overexploitation, and deforestation, warns a new report backed by the United Nations.
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?
New study identifies rapidly emerging threats to oceans
11 Jul 2022
A globe-spanning study outlines new, potentially unexpected threats to ocean ecosystems and vulnerable coastal communities within the next five to 10 years that will come on top of the already harmful effects of overfishing, pollution and global warming.
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.
How much is a mangrove forest worth? In some places, $850,000 per hectare
7 Jul 2022
While proponents of environmental restoration often talk about ecological benefits, people controlling the purse strings think in dollars and cents.
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.
Methane emissions reach new highs despite pandemic—four times more sensitive to climate change than first thought
7 Jul 2022
Eliminating emissions of CO₂ is high up the environmental agenda—but the world should not lose sight of the threat from methane. There has been a disturbing recent surge in atmospheric methane, which is more than 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas over the course of a century than CO₂.
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.
How AI can have a positive and negative impact on climate: study
4 Jul 2022
A study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change sought to understand the potential impact of artificial intelligence on climate change.
Technofixes are the elite's attempt to sidestep blame for the climate crisis
4 Jul 2022
Science has a resistance to ill-founded assertions embedded deep in its bones. Carl Sagan called this “baloney detection.” But in the face of climate change, arguably our largest science-related crisis, these baloney detection capabilities haven’t kept our leaders honest.
The benefits of growing brocolli beneath solar panels
1 Jul 2022
Despite being “yucky” according to some picky eaters, broccoli is well-suited to grow alongside solar panels, according to a new study.
Governments must vote in favour of moratorium on deep sea mining
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Media release - Greenpeace | The 30th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has ended with Greenpeace saying governments are continuing to fall short in protecting the deep sea.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
Tue 29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
At least 30 killed and several missing as heavy rains and floods lash northern China
Today 11:45am
Thousands of people were evacuated as the region, including the capital Beijing, braced for more rainfall overnight.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
Multi-day protest continues at coal mine
Today 11:45am
Bathurst Resources has been forced to truck coal from its Stockton mine as climate activists occupy coal buckets at the mine for a third day.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
Tue 29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
A third of ‘slum residents’ in global south are exposed to disastrous flood risks
Today 11:45am
One in three people in informal settlements in the global south live in floodplains and are at risk of a “disastrous flood”.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Wilding pines threaten Molesworth Station
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Without increased support, the unchecked spread of wilding pines will continue to creep across Marlborough’s high country – putting iconic landscapes and one of New Zealand’s top five biodiversity hotspots at serious risk, according to an expert.
EV sales fall, but it’s complicated
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Imports of fully electric vehicles fell over 50% in value during the 12 months to June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, according to Stats NZ.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter Taranaki mayors want central government to partner up with their councils to kick-start a hydrogen industry. This despite ongoing questions about the gas’s effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
All aboard for passenger rail in the golden triangle
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Media release – The Future Is Rail | New Zealand’s national passenger rail advocacy group, The Future is Rail, has announced its strong support for the Green Party’s proposal to establish a new passenger rail service connecting Auckland and Tauranga.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
As US climate data-gathering is gutted, Australian forecasting is now at real risk
Today 11:45am
As damage from climate change intensifies, political change overseas is threatening Australia’s ability to track what’s happening now, and predict what will happen next.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
China's carbon emissions may have peaked thanks to renewables push
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Climate experts say China's carbon emissions may have peaked, which could affect global climate targets, the fight against global warming – and the Australian coal industry.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
