Topics tagged with 'Science'
What would climate scientists do with $100 million
21 Oct 2022
Who’s best placed to decide which climate tech is most likely to help save the world — and therefore deserves the most funding? Climate scientists are top of the list.
Ocean warming rates to quadruple by 2090 if climate change not mitigated: study
19 Oct 2022
A new comprehensive review of global ocean temperature data has allowed researchers to paint a clear picture of ocean warming since the 1950s, and predict future warming scenarios.
Tracing anthropogenically emitted carbon dioxide into the ocean
19 Oct 2022
Researchers labeled anthropogenically emitted carbon and tracked it with an ocean circulation model to determine whether it winds up in the sky or the sea.
Climate anxiety is spreading all over the planet
18 Oct 2022
If you’re feeling anxious about climate change, the common wisdom goes, there’s an antidote: Take action. Maybe you can alleviate your worries by doing something positive, like going to a protest, becoming an advocate for mass transit, or trying to get an environmental champion elected.
Future emissions from ‘country of permafrost’ potentially devastating
18 Oct 2022
By the end of this century, permafrost in the rapidly warming Arctic will likely emit as much carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere as a large industrial nation, and potentially more than the U.S. has emitted since the start of the industrial revolution.
World needs to eat less meat: no two sides about it
17 Oct 2022
For years, the reality of climate change was presented in newspaper articles as an open debate. Coverage attempted to offer “both sides” a voice, including scientific experts alongside climate deniers (who often had financial interests in fossil fuels). That false balance has largely improved, with most media coverage on the topic acknowledging the role fossil fuels play in climate change.
CSIRO abruptly scraps globally recognised climate forecast programme
17 Oct 2022
Australia’s premier science organisation abruptly scrapped a fully-funded, globally recognised programme to predict the climate in coming years without consulting an advisory panel that had praised its “good progress” only weeks earlier.
"Sobering" report highlights climate impacts on NZ's marine environment
13 Oct 2022
A “sobering” new report highlighting marine heatwaves, acidifying oceans, sea level rise, and damaging storms, is a warning to reduce emissions faster, according to experts.
50% of Earth’s coral reefs face climate change threat by 2035
12 Oct 2022
Under a worst-case scenario, half of coral reef ecosystems worldwide will permanently face unsuitable conditions in just over a dozen years, if climate change continues unabated. That is one of the findings from new research published on October 11, in PLOS Biology by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers. Unsuitable conditions will likely lead to the corals dying off and other marine life will struggle to survive due to disruptions in the food chain.
Future heatwaves will lead to large ‘loss of life’, report warns
11 Oct 2022
Heatwaves will become so extreme in parts of Africa and Asia within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, a new report by the United Nations and the Red Cross has warned.
Climate change and deforestation may drive tree-dwelling primates to the ground, large-scale study shows
11 Oct 2022
A large-scale study of 47 species of monkeys and lemurs has found that climate change and deforestation are driving these tree-dwelling animals to the ground, where they are at higher risk due to lack of preferred food and shelter, and may experience more negative interaction with humans and domestic animals.
Methane blowout craters in Siberia are ‘canary in a coal mine for global climate’
11 Oct 2022
Gases released from methane craters on Siberia's Yamal and Gydan peninsulas as well as the immense amounts of carbon dioxide released from wildfires in the region can accelerate global warming, experts have warned.
Phantom forests: why ambitious tree planting projects are failing
7 Oct 2022
It was perhaps the most spectacular failed tree planting project ever. Certainly the fastest. On March 8, 2012, teams of village volunteers in Camarines Sur province on the Filipino island of Luzon sunk over a million mangrove seedlings into coastal mud in just an hour of frenzied activity.
Climate risk index shows threats to 90% of the world’s marine specie
7 Oct 2022
By Daniel G. Boyce - The Conversation | Climate change impacts marine life through a bewildering web of complex pathways.
Funding win for biotech startup aiming to reduce emissions with dairy alternatives
6 Oct 2022
Precision fermentation startup Daisy Lab is the first recipient of funding from a new initiative set up to reduce the failure rate of local social enterprises.
The world should fast track green energy. But not because of climate change
5 Oct 2022
A rapid transition to green energy is likely to save the world trillions of dollars compared to sticking with the current fossil fuel-based energy system, according to a new analysis.
NIWA predicts strengthening marine heatwave
4 Oct 2022
Climate change is continuing to influence Aotearoa New Zealand’s weather, with NIWA warning the coming marine heatwave could rival last year’s high temperatures, and the marine sector “should monitor the system closely”.
A Nord Stream disaster every day
4 Oct 2022
A half-mile wide maelstrom is swirling in the Baltic Sea as an estimated 300,000 metric tons of gas violently erupts from the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines. Most of this gas is likely methane, a gas normally invisible to the eye that is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over 20 years. The swirling froth recalls Hurricane Ian, another catastrophe that’s just devastated Florida.
Scientists hopeful tiny ocean zooplankton will help tell if climate change targets are met
3 Oct 2022
Scientists have found some of the smallest animals in the ocean are having a big impact in the fight against climate change.
Bitcoin climate impact greater than gold mining, study shows
30 Sep 2022
Bitcoin is less “digital gold” and more “digital beef”, according to a study that suggests the cryptocurrency has a climate impact greater than that of gold mining and on the level of natural gas extraction or rearing cattle for meat.
Termite invasion could eat into NZ economy and environment
28 Sep 2022
As the planet heats, termites could move further out of the tropics, decaying more wood and releasing more carbon dioxide like "tiny cows", according to a new study in the journal Science.
Scientists urge top publisher to withdraw faulty climate study
28 Sep 2022
A fundamentally flawed study claiming that scientific evidence of a climate crisis is lacking should be withdrawn from the peer-reviewed journal in which it was published, top climate scientists have told AFP.
How could positive 'tipping points' accelerate climate action?
23 Sep 2022
As catastrophic climate change tipping points loom, could positive shifts toward green action also be speeding up?
How colonialism spawned and continues to exacerbate the climate crisis
22 Sep 2022
We currently live in an epoch that geologists call the Holocene, which began soon after the last major ice age ended around 11,700 years ago. But for over two decades, some scientists have argued that the label is far too antiquated. In 2000, the term “Anthropocene” — ‘anthropo’ for human and ‘cene’ for new — gained prominence. It highlights how human activities dominate the Earth’s land, atmosphere, and oceans, significantly impacting its climate and natural ecosystems.
Mangroves keep carbon in the soil for 5,000 years
21 Sep 2022
On top of all the other dazzling biology, mangrove forests are massive carbon sinks. According to new research on a Mexican mangrove forest, they can keep carbon out of the atmosphere for millennia.
California's dairy farm methane capture scheme may have "unintended consequences"
20 Sep 2022
Scientists and environmentalists say more data is needed on ammonia emissions resulting from California's dairy farm methane capture scheme.
Research predicts big climate change impacts on marine mammals
19 Sep 2022
Media release - A new Department of Conservation report predicts that climate change could have a major impact on some of New Zealand’s marine mammals.
China lost its Yangtze River dolphin. Climate change is coming for other species next
19 Sep 2022
They called it the "Goddess of the Yangtze" -- a creature so rare that it was believed to bring fortune and protection to local fishermen and all those lucky enough to spot it.
Climate ‘points of no return’ may be much closer than we thought
16 Sep 2022
In climatology, a tipping point is defined as a rise in global temperature past which a localized climate system, or "tipping element" — such as the Amazonrainforest or the Greenland ice sheet — starts to irreversibly decline. Once a tipping point has been reached, that tipping element will experience runaway effects that essentially doom it forever, even if global temperatures retreat below the tipping point.
Eat more fish: when switching to seafood helps — and when it doesn’t
16 Sep 2022
Replacing meat with certain types of sustainably sourced seafood could help people to reduce their carbon footprints without compromising on nutrition, finds an analysis of dozens of marine species that are consumed worldwide.
Tropical wetlands emit more methane than previously thought
15 Sep 2022
Since 2007, the world's atmospheric methane concentration has risen at an accelerated rate, but scientists aren't exactly sure why.
World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points, study finds
9 Sep 2022
The climate crisis has driven the world to the brink of multiple “disastrous” tipping points, according to a major study.
Southern Ocean takes on the heat of climate change
8 Sep 2022
In the past 50 years, the oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat caused by our carbon dioxide emissions, with one ocean absorbing the vast majority.
Greenhouse gases, sea sevels hit record highs in 2021
7 Sep 2022
Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, and ocean heat all hit record highs in 2021, according to an international science report.
Why defusing 'carbon bombs' offers a promising new agenda for tackling climate change
6 Sep 2022
A carbon bomb is a fossil fuel extraction project, such as a coal mine, that can cause over a metric gigaton of CO₂ emissions during its lifetime. That's a billion tons—more than twice the UK's annual emissions from a single project.
Global turbulence may herald 'giant leap' to a greener era, says top scientist
2 Sep 2022
As rocketing energy and food prices fuel inflation and social discontent in many countries, the world may have entered a period of "big turbulence" that could force a green transition in the global economy, said a leading environmental scientist.
Mapping US coastlines may ‘drive more equality’ in climate adaptation policy
2 Sep 2022
A Canadian technology company is building aerial imagery of US shorelines which could be used to help coastal communities mitigate climate change.
Zombie ice from Greenland will raise sea level 27 centimetres
1 Sep 2022
Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet will eventually raise global sea level by at least 27 centimeters -- more than twice as much as previously forecast — according to a recent study.
Lakes are disappearing across the Arctic as the climate crisis worsens: Study
1 Sep 2022
The Arctic has experienced loss before. As the area warms almost four times more quickly than the rest of the world, glaciers melt, wildlife dies, and habitat loss is accelerating at an unprecedented rate.
A crop-by-crop comparison of urban vs conventional farms yields turns up some surprising results
1 Sep 2022
Roof-grown lettuces and warehouse-cultivated tomatoes could be more than just a frivolous foodie trend: a new study finds that crops cultivated in cities can be up to four times more productive per square meter, than those grown in conventional agricultural fields.
Living in timber cities could cut emissions, without using farmland for wood production
31 Aug 2022
Housing a growing population in homes made out of wood instead of conventional steel and concrete could avoid more than 100 billion tons of emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 until 2100, a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research shows.
What’s the chance of meeting Paris climate goal? Just 0.1%: study
30 Aug 2022
Climate scientists say there’s a 0.1% chance of keeping warming below 1.5° Celsius by 2100, as called for in the Paris Agreement.
Fact check: What role does climate change play in extreme weather events?
30 Aug 2022
After scorching heat waves withered crops and dried up mighty rivers in the Northern Hemisphere, catastrophic super flooding in Pakistan has so far killed more than a 1,000 people, displacing millions more.
Climate intervention: a possible hope in the face of humanity’s biggest problem
30 Aug 2022
The rapid reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero is the only practical way to halt climate change. But thanks to two centuries of burning fossil fuels, we have created a warmer climate that will endure for generations. As a result, humanity will be faced with an important decision: do we live on a hot planet with all the problems that brings, or do we intervene to try to cool things down?
Paleoclimate study shows warming oceans could lead to a spike in seabed methane emissionsC
29 Aug 2022
The slowdown of a key ocean current could release methane that is frozen in layers of organic seabed sediments along some of the world’s coastlines, a new study shows.
The energy required for adaptation calls for stronger mitigation efforts
26 Aug 2022
A new study published today in Nature Communications by researchers from the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, the European Institute on Economics and the Environment and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine finds that adapting to climate change will require more energy than previously estimated, leading to higher energy investments and costs.
Kiwis feature prominently among signatories of climate change denying Declaration
25 Aug 2022
Two New Zealanders, one with historic ties to the fossil fuel industry, feature prominently among the more than 1100 signatories of the grandly titled World Climate Declaration.
Can Southern Africa grow without fossil fuels?
25 Aug 2022
If current trends in the energy system continue, wind and solar will outcompete other power sources on cost and rapidly come to dominate the electrical grid in Southern Africa, according to a new study.
China's unprecedented 70-day heatwave is breaking multiple records
24 Aug 2022
China's more than two-month long heatwave has dried up as many as 66 rivers, including the critical Yangtze River, the world's third longest waterway.
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.
