Topics tagged with 'Science'
Marine heatwaves devastating ecosystems
6 May 2021
Sudden marine heatwaves can devastate ecosystems, and scientists are scrambling to predict when they will strike.
Niwa beefing up its climate research capability
4 May 2021
NIWA is on a global hunt for eight new data scientists to join its growing team of AI experts working on climate change related research.
Amazon is now net GHG emitter: study finds
3 May 2021
Something is wrong in the lungs of the world. Decades of burning, logging, mining and development have tipped the scales, and now the Amazon Basin may be emitting more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards
30 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - Covering Climate Now andColumbia Journalism Review are proud to launch an annual award to celebrate exemplary journalism about the defining story of our time.
Climate Change photo competition winners announced
29 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - 1854 & British Journal of Photography announce the winners of the inaugural Decade of Change award
UN puts spotlight on methane
28 Apr 2021
The United Nations is expected to announce, in a landmark report, that reducing methane emissions must play a larger role in preventing the worst effects of climate change.
Climate crisis has shifted the Earth’s axis
27 Apr 2021
The massive melting of glaciers as a result of global heating has caused marked shifts in the Earth’s axis of rotation since the 1990s, research has shown.
‘Blue carbon’ credits could help restore ecosystems
27 Apr 2021
Seagrasses, mangrove forests, and wetlands store tons of carbon. But can a market based on regrowing them avoid the pitfalls that plague land-based programs?
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap
23 Apr 2021
Three senior climate scientists argue the concept of net zero emissions effectively serves as a blank cheque for the continued burning of fossil fuel.
Kiwi methane tracking satellite
23 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - New Zealand’s first government funded space mission has taken a ‘giant leap’ with Auckland University’s Te Pûnaha Âtea-Auckland Space Institute announced as the permanent host of the New Zealand based mission control centre for a global methane tracking satellite.
Global emissions surging
22 Apr 2021
The IEA predicts that carbon dioxide emissions could rise to 33 billion tonnes in 2021 – the second largest rise in emissions ever.
Fonterra rejects climate claims
21 Apr 2021
Fonterra is dismissing a claim in Climatic Change – a leading academic journal – that it is the world’s second highest dairy emitter and is responsible for emissions equal to New Zealand’s total emissions target for the coming decade.
Best by the rest...
16 Apr 2021
The New Zealand Herald has published a series of articles in recent days as its contribution to Covering Climate Now's "Living Through the Climate Emergency" week of coverage in the lead up to Earth Day.
Report calls for end of carbon gluttony
14 Apr 2021
The world’s wealthy must radically change their lifestyles to tackle climate change, a report says.
Climate change study win marine biologist a PM science prize
14 Apr 2021
Media Release - When Dr Christopher Cornwall began his biological research career, three unanswered questions bothered him about how climate change might affect marine organisms.
Third of Antarctic ice shelf at risk of collapse
13 Apr 2021
Over a third of the Antarctic ice shelf is at risk of collapsing as Earth continues to warm.
The week in review
9 Apr 2021
The week that was: The PM accepts invite to virtual climate summit; slow burn on coal boiler shutdown; renewable energy stocks tumble, and the kids hit the streets.
Spike in Arctic lightening could be due to climate change
9 Apr 2021
Climate change may be sparking more lightning in the Arctic, a study has found.
Marine species fleeing equator
8 Apr 2021
With tropical fish and other marine creatures already shifting south along Australia’s east coast, a new global study involving a USC ecology researcher has confirmed a drop in species numbers in the warming waters near the equator.
Easter carbon surprise
6 Apr 2021
With Easter behind us some people will be worrying about the extra centimetres those chocolate eggs added to their waistlines – but here at Carbon News we’re more interested in how much carbon they added to the atmosphere.
Reserve Bank calls for Govt lead on green bonds
30 Mar 2021
Government intervention is likely to be needed to encourage greater investment in green bonds, the Reserve Bank says.
Temperatures to soar for half a billion people
30 Mar 2021
Many millions of people − among them some of the world’s poorest − will be exposed to potentially lethal temperatures on a routine basis. At worst, the mercury could reach 56deg by 2100.
Big methane cut and free public transport needed, expert tells ClimCom
29 Mar 2021
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change author Bronwyn Hayward has told the Climate Change Commission its draft recommendations are not ambitious enough and larger cuts need to be made in biogenic methane emissions.
The real reason humans are the dominent species
29 Mar 2021
Energy is the key to humanity's world domination. Not just the jet fuel that allows us to traverse entire continents in a few hours, or the bombs we build that can blow up entire cities, but the vast amounts of energy we all use every day.
Listen to experts on hydrogen, Minister says
26 Mar 2021
Companies getting excited about using hydrogen as a major energy source need to listen to the warnings of experts, the Climate Minister says.
Small nuclear power plants no use in climate crisis
25 Mar 2021
Claims that a new generation of so-called advanced, safe and easier-to-build nuclear reactors (small nuclear power plants) will be vital to combat climate change are an illusion, and the idea should be abandoned, says a group of scientists.
Why we need a carbon club
25 Mar 2021
If the three biggest economies - China, the United States and the European Union - agree a carbon tax on imports, it will catalyse climate action globally, a new paper says.
Nature left alone offers more than if we exploit it
24 Mar 2021
Save nature, save money. It’s a simple argument. Wilderness cleared and ploughed offers us less than nature left alone.
Happiness in the age of climate change
22 Mar 2021
A United Nations report suggests countries that have done well in containing the covid-19 pandemic are well-placed to take the sorts of collective actions necessary to combat climate change.
Climate facts back on US EPA website
22 Mar 2021
Canceled four years ago by a president who considered global warming a hoax, climate crisis information has returned to the website of the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of Joe Biden’s promise to “bring science back”.
Aviation fuel from food waste could cut emissions
22 Mar 2021
Food waste could be instrumental in producing sustainable aviation fuel, according to a recent study.
Cuba secures climate funds for coast
22 Mar 2021
The Green Climate Fund has approved $US23.9 million in finance for a coastal resilience project along Cuba’s southern coastline.
EV subsidy plan causes division
19 Mar 2021
Toyota New Zealand will continue to push for financial incentives for those buying electric vehicles when it responds to the ClimCom draft report.
Why fish-trawling should be in national carbon accounts
18 Mar 2021
Bottom-trawling for fish releases more carbon dioxide each year than Germany does, yet is not included in national carbon accounts, scientists say.
TRANSPORT 2: Go electriciity, not hydrogen
16 Mar 2021
Green hydrogen is being touted as an alternative to fossil fuels in New Zealand. The Government has invested $8.4 million to explore its potential and $19.9 million in a hydrogen energy facility.
Droughts worst in 200 years
16 Mar 2021
The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2000 years, research suggests.
The price of coal weighs heavy on planetary health
12 Mar 2021
The true cost of fossil fuels could be a quarter of the world's' GDP, scientists say.
Carbon emissions slow, but not nearly fast enough
9 Mar 2021
Five years after a planet-wide vow to reduce carbon emissions, it happened; in 2020, the world’s nations pumped only 34 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a drop of 2.6 billion tonnes on the previous year.
IMF and World Bank will push G20 over climate
1 Mar 2021
The leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are vowing to step up efforts to combat climate change by looking more closely at climate-related financial stability risk and using other tools at their disposal.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Collins embraces the ETS
26 Feb 2021
National Party leader Judith Collins seems to have abandoned her dismissal of the need for urgent action on climate change – and found a love for the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Fiercer, more frequent fires may reduce carbon capture by forests
26 Feb 2021
More fierce and frequent fires are reducing forest density and tree size and may damage forests’ ability to capture carbon in the future, according to a global study.
'Science-based' targets are no such thing - former adviser
25 Feb 2021
One of the instigators of an influential climate initiative for big business has gone public with criticism of its target-setting process, saying it does not measure up to its ambition.
Three technologies that will change food production
25 Feb 2021
Agriculture’s impact on the planet is massive and relentless. Roughly 40 per cent of the Earth’s suitable land surface is used for cropland and grazing.
Proving that taking care of forest pays carbon dividends
18 Feb 2021
New Zealand’s vast native forests may yet help the country meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Emissions 'return to normal', says Fletcher Building
17 Feb 2021
The country’s largest building company says emissions have returned to normal in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic shutdown.
Millions will die if world fails on climate promises
17 Feb 2021
Scientists have looked at conditions in just nine of the world’s 200 nations and found that − if the world keeps its Paris climate promises, of containing global heating to “well below” 2deg by 2100 − millions of lives could be saved.
Carbon-free future is in reach for US by 2050
12 Feb 2021
The United States − per head of population perhaps the world’s most prodigal emitter of greenhouse gases − can reverse that and have a carbon-free future within three decades, at a cost of no more than $1 per person per day.
China’s crackdown on illegal CFC gases is working
11 Feb 2021
A Chinese government crackdown on producers and buyers of illegal CFC gases is working, research has found.
'Dangerous' push to leave farmers out of Aussie target
9 Feb 2021
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison might be warming to the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, but federal Nationals leader Michael McCormack has thrown a spanner in the works by suggesting agriculture be excluded from the target.
Millions for carbon capture contest
9 Feb 2021
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is offering $138 million for inventions that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans.
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?
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.
Carbon prices slide as market awaits ETS decision
Fri 1 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | Volatility has returned to the secondary carbon market, with prices sliding again after plateauing in recent weeks, as the market waits for government decisions on Emissions Trading Scheme settings.
The US is sitting out the most consequential climate summit in a decade. It may offer a victory to China
Fri 1 Aug 2025
The Trump administration fired the last of the US climate negotiators earlier this month, helping cement America’s withdrawal from international climate diplomacy. It may also have handed a huge victory to China.
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.
Coal use drove recent emissions increase
Fri 1 Aug 2025
Increased use of coal for electricity generation was a large driver for an increase in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the last quarter.
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?
What does 'drier' really mean in 'green' homes?
Fri 1 Aug 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Researchers say green-rating systems could improve clarity and effectiveness by explicitly defining ‘drier’ and using two measures of humidity.
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.
Bill to restart oil and gas exploration clears final hurdle
Fri 1 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s Crown Minerals Amendment Bill is set to become law after passing its third reading in parliament last night, with critics calling it humiliating for the climate minister and an embarrassment to New Zealand's international reputation.
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.
Warmer than usual weather ahead, wetter in north and east, as La Niña signals strengthen
Fri 1 Aug 2025
Media release – Earth Sciences New Zealand | Seasonal Outlook Climate August to October 2025 suggests warm, damp weather, with La Niña’s possible return.
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.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
Thu 31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
A modest geothermal strategy
Thu 31 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
European Central Bank to consider 'climate factor' when lending to banks
Thu 31 Jul 2025
The European Central Bank will add climate change considerations to its lending operations from late 2026, raising pressure on banks to channel financing towards greener sectors as the euro zone seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
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.
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.
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.
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.
Multi-day protest continues at coal mine
Wed 30 Jul 2025
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.
Fund for low emissions transport winds up
Thu 31 Jul 2025
New Zealand’s Low Emission Transport Fund has officially wrapped up, ending a nine-year programme that put hundreds of millions of dollars towards accelerating the country’s shift to cleaner transport.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
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
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.
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.
Tilting at windmills? Trump’s claims about turbines fact-checked
Thu 31 Jul 2025
The US president has taken a swipe at wind power as the blades visible from his Turnberry golf course turn.
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.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
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.
