Topics tagged with 'Science'

You could bill the beef, scientists tell Brazil
16 May 2014
Scientists have come up with a new prescription to address the Amazon rainforest’s health problems: reduce deforestation more efficiently by taxing freerange beef.

Can we harness the might of magma?
16 May 2014
Can enormous heat deep in the earth be harnessed to provide energy for us on the surface? A promising report from a geothermal borehole project that accidentally struck magma – the same fiery, molten rock that spews from volcanoes – suggests it could.

Why Australia has something to worry about
9 May 2014
The state of Australia’s environment is a real worry – the report cards exist to prove it.

Scientists answer soil microbes questions
9 May 2014
Scientists from the United States, China and Ireland may have settled one big question about climate change: don’t rely on the soil microbes to help to damp down the temperatures.

Food crops might lose their bite, says report
9 May 2014
Food crops might become less nutritious as climate change kicks in, new research has found.

Australia explains how emissions plan will work
2 May 2014
The Australian Government has released its Emissions Reduction Fund White Paper, setting out what it calls a cost-effective, practical and simple approach to reduce national emissions without a multi-billion dollar carbon tax.

The energy revolution is jammed in reverse
24 Apr 2014
Keeping the rise in global average temperatures to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels will not be prohibitively expensive, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says, though it won't be easy.

Climate change means the skids are under skiing
17 Apr 2014
Skiing on New Zealand’s highest skifields will be viable for another generation – but possibly not for longer than that - thanks to climate change.

Politicians leading us on a path to catastrophe, warns former PM
11 Apr 2014
Politicians too afraid of losing votes to talk about climate change are sentencing humanity to catastrophe, says former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

NZ climate change film goes global
11 Apr 2014
A global agreement for the educational market has been secured for the New Zealand film Thin Ice – the Inside Story of Climate Science.

Academic gets funds for drought studies
11 Apr 2014
A Waikato University doctoral student has won a scholarship to investigate the on-going inpacts of drought on dry-land farming.

Airlines wrestle with demands of climate change
11 Apr 2014
By LYNETTE DRAY.- Although aviation emissions contribute only 3 to 5 per cent of the total impact on the planet’s climate, this is steadily growing and is a surprisingly intractable problem to solve.

Tax credits deal fuels LanzaTech move to Illinois
4 Apr 2014
NEW ZEALAND clean-tech company LanzaTech has been lured to Illinois with more than $US1 million worth of tax credits.

Make sure you watch your back when the heat goes on
4 Apr 2014
By ALEX KIRBY.- A warming climate is closely related to political and social instability and a higher risk of conflict, according to American scientists.

No-action Abbott stalls climate policy decisions
4 Apr 2014
By PROF NICK ROWLEY.- In Australia, any sense of the need for an urgent policy response has stalled, despite this week’s reminder from the IPCC of the threats the country faces – not to mention the warming already seen and the increase in extreme climate events.

New investors pump $70m into LanzaTech
28 Mar 2014
NEW ZEALAND-BORN LanzaTech has attracted an extra $70 million in investment

Time for the Big Three to take Big Action
28 Mar 2014
WITHIN the course of five days, Brussels will play host to Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. As the international community looks to keep global warming under 2°C, these leaders must insist on the same, writes NATALIE ALONSO, of Oxfam.

Australia poised for carbon policy tussle
28 Mar 2014
By MICHAEL HOPKIN.- A Labor-dominated Senate committee has set the stage for the post-July tussle over carbon policy, recommending that Australia commit to much deeper emissions cuts than the current 5 per cent target, and advising against scrapping carbon pricing.

Let's get together, says UK energy expert
21 Mar 2014
Huge potential exists for New Zealand and Britain to collaborate on the science and technology of renewable energies, says the British Foreign Office chief scientific adviser.
Climate scientists 3, economists 0
21 Mar 2014
Hold up the trophy. Open the champagne. Climate scientists have easily won the game. According to a recent study, when it comes to the accuracy of forecasts and projections, the climate side is much better at the game than the economists’ team, says KIEREN COOKE.

Should climate deniers be brought to book?
14 Mar 2014
Is misinformation about the climate criminally negligent, asks Rochester Institute of Technology Assistant Professor of Philosophy, LAWRENCE TORCELLO.

Eight ways to better manage our livestock
14 Mar 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- British and international scientists have proposed eight strategies to make cattle and sheep-farming more sustainable, to make both the animals and people who depend on them healthier, and to reduce the strain on the planet.

Did Genghis Khan ride to world domination on the back of climate change?
14 Mar 2014
Climate change – already implicated in the fall of Bronze Age civilisations in the Mediterranean and in the Indus Valley - may also account for the rise of one of the most fearsome empires in history.

Australia hotting up, say scientists
7 Mar 2014
Temperatures across Australia were, on average, almost 1°C warmer than they were a century ago, according to a new report.

Antarctic sea changes could bring big problems
7 Mar 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- Global warming could have dramatic consequences for ocean circulation in the Antarctic, according to new research.
Sustainability graduates make their mark
7 Mar 2014
Now in its fourth year, Otago Polytechnic’s Graduate Programmes in Sustainable Practice is providing New Zealand companies, organisations and a variety of projects with graduates qualified in implementing sustainable practice.

Livestock diet can cut emissions, says study
28 Feb 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- Here’s a way to make cattle emit lower volumes of methane through their digestive tracts: give the beasts a higher-quality diet.

And the answer is ...
28 Feb 2014
Answers to the 20 big questions about climate change - is it real, how do we know humans are causing it, does it matter, and more - have been provided this week by Britain and America's top scientists.
Sea-level rises threaten island havens
28 Feb 2014
Decades of work to create safe island havens for some of the world’s rarest species could be undone if sea levels rise as high as climate scientists predict, according to a new study.

Blocking the sunlight has a dark side
21 Feb 2014
By TIM RADFORD. Finding a technology that would let us counteract the effects of climate change is a cherished dream. But if there is a cure, it could be worse than the disease, scientists say.
Scientists find key methane micro-organism
21 Feb 2014
Scientists from The University of Queensland have discovered a microbe that is set to play a significant role in future global warming.

Pacific holds key to climate change’s ‘missing warmth’
14 Feb 2014
Australian and US scientists think they know where a lot of global warming has been concentrated: it has been tucked away below the surface waters of the western Pacific.

Earth Law move perfect for us, says academic
7 Feb 2014
New Zealand is well-positioned to move into an emerging international Earth-centred legal regime because of Maori culture, an environmental law lecturer says.

Why the big boys are serious about carbon pricing
7 Feb 2014
Several of the largest international oil companies, along with other major companies, are taking the prospect of international carbon pricing seriously, writes BARRY NAUGHTON.

Hang on, isn't carbon-happy China just making stuff for us?
7 Feb 2014
Is it fair that China is blamed for the carbon dioxide emissions it generates to manufacture products destined for the West? asks Glen West, of the Center for International Climate and Environment Research.

Engineers claim solar cell breakthrough
7 Feb 2014
California engineers have invented a new process for manufacturing highly efficient photovoltaic materials that shows promise for low-cost industrial production.

Think or swim ... that's our climate change choice
31 Jan 2014
Making people think about the impact climate change could have on their homes makes them more likely to take action to prevent it, researchers say.

All power to Scottish tides, say engineers
31 Jan 2014
Renewable tidal energy sufficient to power about half of Scotland could be harnessed from a single stretch of water off the north coast of the country, engineers say.

The war on science: Why we should be very afraid
24 Jan 2014
Climate scientist Dr JIM SALINGER on why we should be very worried by attempts to discredit data showing New Zealand's climate is warming:

Tiny sensors will allow bees to tell us their troubles
24 Jan 2014
Thousands of honey bees in Australia are being fitted with sensors as part of a world-first research programme to monitor the insects and their environment using a technique known as 'swarm sensing'.

Study shows how to double renewable energy
24 Jan 2014
The global renewable energy share can reach and exceed 30 per cent by 2030 at no extra cost, says a new report.

Pulp politics bring tension to Tasmania
24 Jan 2014
KATE CROWLEY, Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Policy at the University of Tasmania, examines the tension between the economy and the environment in the state's politics:

Farmers put weight behind water storage
24 Jan 2014
Farmers say climate change means water storage is more important than ever.

Young scientist sets sights on future of the mozzie
20 Dec 2013
The potential impact of climate change on insect predator-prey interactions is being investigated by a University of Canterbury postgraduate scholarship-winning student.

Study points finger at troublesome native birds
6 Dec 2013
Pukeko, kaka and gulls are the native bird species most likely to cause problems in New Zealand’s cities in the future, according to new research.

What Tim Groser told the world at Warsaw
22 Nov 2013
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has put New Zealand’s emissions-reduction credentials to the COP19 gathering in Warsaw.

Local bodies need no-till, says scientist
22 Nov 2013
New Zealand local authorities are missing something when they prepare their environmental policies, a no-till advocate says.

Take a searching look at our rivers ... and be in the draw to win a copy of this book
22 Nov 2013
DAVID YOUNG has updated his 1986 historical geography Faces of the River. His new book is entitled, Rivers: New Zealand’s Shared Legacy, from Random House. In the politically and ecologically altered landscapes of the past quarter-century, almost nothing remains the same. This is especially true of our river systems, and especially of our lowland rivers. To go in the draw to win a copy of Rivers just email [email protected] with 'rivers' in the subject line.

Welcome to the Bill and Gerry Climate Change Show ...
15 Nov 2013
The Government is under fire over its apparent lack of belief in human-induced climate change, with two of the country’s most powerful politicians calling the science into question.

Our ministers ill-informed, says top scientist
15 Nov 2013
The New Zealand Government is ignoring “inconvenient” evidence about climate change, says a leading international climate scientist.