Topics tagged with 'Science'
How climate denial gained a foothold in the Liberal Party
11 Mar 2016
It seems the Liberal Party is still having trouble letting go of climate denial, judging by the New South Wales branch’s demand that the Turnbull government arrange a series of public debates on climate science.
If planners understand it's cool to green cities, what's stopping them?
10 Mar 2016
Cities are getting hotter, more crowded and noisier. Climate change is bringing more heatwaves, placing pressure on human health, urban amenity, productivity and infrastructure.
The Great White Hope of climate science gets darker
9 Mar 2016
Greenland, climatology’s great white hope and the biggest block of ice in the northern hemisphere, is losing its reflectivity.
Dairy dive has message, says eco economist
8 Mar 2016
Collapsing dairy prices are a warning of what can happen when businesses live beyond their ecological means, says an expert in ecological economics.
Future food needs decisions now, says report
4 Mar 2016
The world needs to make the hard decisions now on dealing with enormous climate-related risks like food shortages that could happen after 2050, says Professor Alistair Woodward of Auckland University.
If you think this is hot, think again
4 Mar 2016
Researchers warn that more areas of the world will swelter more often in potentially lethal heatwaves unless greenhouse gas emissions are drastically curtailed.
Recycled water could help to cut the food bills
3 Mar 2016
Australians eat a lot of water – the water that is used to produce food. New findings from the Foodprint Melbourne study estimate that more than 475 litres of water is used to grow each person’s food every day.
Scientists study slow-burning trees
29 Feb 2016
Planting less-flammable trees on farms might help to stop the spread of wildfires in New Zealand as the planet warms.
Canberra backs fossil fuel 'growth centre' with $15m
29 Feb 2016
Australia's Industry, Innovation and Science Minister, Christopher Pyne, has launched a new “growth centre” for the fossil fuel industry (and uranium), to be known as National Energy Resources Australia.
Concrete innovator wins expansion money
26 Feb 2016
Concrete-block manufacturer Interbloc has been recognised for its efforts to manage the environmental effects of its products – and received $430,000 of Government money to expand its recycling project.
Scientists calculate our debt to the Earth
26 Feb 2016
Researchers in the US have found a way to put a monetary value on the multitude of vital services and assets we rely on nature to provide us cost-free.
Energy markets unlikely ally in the emissions effort
25 Feb 2016
In the aftermath of Paris climate talks, analysts lined up to point out why the celebrated agreement was simply not good enough.
Beehive shows signs of hearing business call
24 Feb 2016
The Government might be about to open the door more widely for business and other groups to have a bigger say in climate change policy.
New study finds Antarctic ice sheets vulnerable
24 Feb 2016
Antarctica’s ice sheets are more sensitive to climate change than previously thought, says a team of scientists from New Zealand, the United States, Italy and Germany.
To meet Paris goals, do we need to engineer the climate?
24 Feb 2016
The climate talks that convened in Paris at the end of 2015 produced a historic agreement, giving negotiators and climate activists good reason to celebrate. Now the task is to ensure that the ambition shown in Paris is matched by action.
British power stations burning biomass from America
23 Feb 2016
Last year, 6m tonnes of wood pellets harvested from forests in Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Virginia were shipped across the Atlantic, to be burnt in renewable biomass power plants.
Carbon capture could be costly and risky
22 Feb 2016
Attempts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it safely are all potentially costly gambles with the current technology, scientists say.
Ethical shoppers scorned – and the headlines don’t help
22 Feb 2016
If we want more people to shop ethically, it’s not very helpful to cast judgement on the “ordinary” shopping public whom ethical campaigners are trying to reach.
How a phosphorus shortage could leave us short of food
15 Feb 2016
It’s not as well-known as the other issues, but phosphorus depletion is no less significant. We could live without cars or unusual species, but if phosphorus ran out we’d have to live without food.
It's time to rethink what we want from farming
9 Feb 2016
Scientists say nature conservation and protecting the planet from global warming can both be achieved if land is used sustainably, not just for immediate profit.
CSIRO boss' logic could waste billions in taxes
9 Feb 2016
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall offered the following justification for his decision to cut 110 jobs from the agency’s climate science staff: "We have spent probably a decade trying to answer the question 'is the climate changing?' After the Paris climate summit that question has been answered. The next question now is what do we do about it? The people that were so brilliant at measuring and modelling climate change might not be the right people to figure out how to adapt to it."
Disease threatens to kill off bananas ... but there's a way we might save them
9 Feb 2016
Catastrophe is looming for the banana industry. A new strain has emerged of a soil-borne fungus known as “Panama disease” which can wipe out entire plantations – and it is rapidly spreading around the world.
Oceans are heating up ... at the double
9 Feb 2016
Records from a sailing ship’s round-the-world research voyage almost 150 years ago provide further evidence that the Earth is continuing to warm unchecked.
Giant blades snatch energy from the air
9 Feb 2016
Science can now make energy by building immense wind turbine blades and filtering carbon from the air, but the challenge is commercial viability.
How human impacts fuel weather extremes
9 Feb 2016
Researchers show that floods and droughts often happen at least in part because of human-induced influences on the climate, and not just from natural causes.
Many Brits can't be bothered, survey shows
9 Feb 2016
Half the people worried about climate change are not willing to make any changes to their lives to prevent it, a new study suggests.
Why post-Paris businesses must get moving
2 Feb 2016
Emissions Trading Scheme measures protecting industries from the full impact of carbon pricing have had their day, says an organisation representing a trillion dollars worth of investments.
Sick seas paint picture of how our future could be
2 Feb 2016
For billions of years, life on Earth remained relatively simple. Only single-celled organisms that could live with little or no oxygen were able to survive in the seas.
How planning helps these farmers to beat the climate
2 Feb 2016
South Africa’s Western Cape plays an important role in the agricultural economy, but is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate.
Ancient plankton give up secrets to science
2 Feb 2016
Scientists have for the first time determined how and when more than 2000 species of ancient marine plankton became extinct, and a potential indicator for which current species might be vulnerable to rapid climate change.
Sydney makes a plan to win the climate war
25 Jan 2016
Sydney has announced a series of measures to help the city to cope with soaring temperatures, worsening storms and rising sea levels.
Carbon capture technology needs urgent help
25 Jan 2016
Call for governments to give financial backing for technology that could help to save the world from overheating by preventing CO2 escaping into the atmosphere
The last time it was this hot hippos lived in Britain
25 Jan 2016
It’s official: 2015 was the warmest year on record. But those global temperature records only date back to 1850 and become increasingly uncertain the further back you go.
Out-of-touch traffic modelling drives policy madness
25 Jan 2016
According to all the data, urban car use has peaked, but official traffic modelling forecasts a remarkable reversal.
America's politics of climate unlikely to change
18 Jan 2016
In an American lection year, with two parties dug in on opposite sides of the climate issue, perhaps only extreme weather will roil the debate.
The current economic system is looking pretty tired
18 Jan 2016
It’s increasingly clear that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way humans run the world. There are many contradictions experienced daily that prove this: the widening social gaps between rich and poor, the paradox of obesity next to starvation, and the ongoing destruction of the planet for short-term private profit.
UK must balance food farming impacts
18 Jan 2016
The UK could reduce its emissions by converting farmland to absorb more carbon dioxide − but risks increasing climate change effects abroad.
Treaty emerges from battle of the verbs
15 Dec 2015
Under the Paris Agreement there should be no net addition of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere sometime in the second half of this century.
Hansen: Why global ‘carbon fee’ system will work
7 Dec 2015
Former NASA climate scientist James Hansen has called for a global “carbon fee” in which fossil fuels are taxed when they are produced or imported, rather than when they are consumed.
Corporate sustainability won’t solve climate change
7 Dec 2015
In the run-up to the COP21 international climate summit in Paris, business leaders worldwide have shown substantial support for action on greenhouse gases.
Energy game-changers look to future
7 Dec 2015
Innovative new research into clean energy technology shows there are viable alternatives to fossil fuels – provided there is enough political will and investment.
Can eating less meat really tackle climate change?
30 Nov 2015
With the food system accounting for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, anything that reduces its impact will make a big difference to the climate.
Just what is solar thermal electricity, anyway?
30 Nov 2015
A large solar thermal electricity plant will soon begin operating near Ouarzazate, Morocco, which will reportedly bring energy to a million people when fully complete.
How climate change has taken a turn for the worse
23 Nov 2015
The world is now in abrupt climate change, says a New Zealander who was one of the first scientists in the world to talk about human-induced climate change.
The Big Apple puts bite on all corporations
23 Nov 2015
In a move that is potentially transformative, the New York attorney general is investigating Exxon for financial fraud.
How to ensure nations stick to Paris commitments
23 Nov 2015
New Zealand is proposing in Paris a climate agreement that is not legally binding. PETER NEWELL, Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex, explains why legally binding agreements don't work.
How we see ourselves in the year 2100
23 Nov 2015
Most books report on what has already happened. John O’Brien has written one that describes the future.
Business picking up the pace ahead of Paris summit
16 Nov 2015
Twelve Australian companies last week committed to strong measures to tackle climate change at the Australian Climate Leadership Summit in Sydney.
Go-it-alone action can break climate gridlock
9 Nov 2015
Researchers say the way to establish fair levels for everyone on global emissions reduction is for one of the major powers to stand up and set the benchmark.
Cash is key to success at Paris climate talks
9 Nov 2015
A former key figure in UN climate change policy-making says economists now see that development without destroying the environment is the only way forward.
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?
Trump administration moves to repeal scientific declaration on dangers of greenhouse gases
Today 10:45am
In one of its most significant reversals on climate policy to-date, the Trump administration on Tuesday proposed to repeal a 2009 scientific finding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety.
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
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.
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.
A modest geothermal strategy
Today 10:45am
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
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.
2025 on track to be second or third warmest year on record
Today 10:45am
As it passes its midway point, 2025 is on track to be the second or third warmest year on record. However, it is very unlikely to beat 2024 as the hottest year.
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
Today 10:45am
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.
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.
European Central Bank to consider 'climate factor' when lending to banks
Today 10:45am
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
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.
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.
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.
Fund for low emissions transport winds up
Today 10:45am
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
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
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.
The EU’s ‘fantasy’ $750B energy promise to Trump
Today 10:45am
The EU has narrowly avoided a full-blown trade war with Donald Trump by pledging to buy $750 billion of U.S. oil and gas by the end of his term. But achieving that will be almost impossible.
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
Today 10:45am
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.
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.
