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Experts say booming demand for holidays afloat mean ocean liners’ burden on the environment is growing

The huge passenger vessels sometimes known as “cruisezillas” are getting bigger than ever, according to new research which has found that the world’s biggest cruise ships have doubled in size since 2000.

If the industry’s growth does not slow, the biggest ships in 2050 will be eight times larger, in terms of tonnage, than the Titanic – the largest ship on the seas before it sank a century ago, according to the campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E). The group also found that the number of cruise ships has risen 20-fold since 1970.

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If you come across the same piece of misinformation several times, it will start to feel familiar – and familiar information feels more true. Mary Jiang, PhD student in psychology, School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University Eryn Newman, Associate Professor, School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University Kate Reynolds, Professor of Educational Psychology & Learning, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne Norbert Schwarz, Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing and co-director of the Dornsife Mind & Society Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

We must face a confronting truth: if humanity does not divert from its current course, our generation will likely witness the demise of one of Earth’s great natural wonders. Ben Henley, Lecturer, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne Helen McGregor, Professor, Environmental Futures & Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Even those who are concerned about climate crisis were influenced by false claims, showing how ‘insidious’ repetition is, researcher says

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Repeating false and sceptical claims about climate science makes them seem more credible – including to people who accept the science and are alarmed by the climate crisis – new research has found.

The study’s lead author, Mary Jiang, from the Australian National University, said: “The findings show how powerful and insidious repetition is and how it can influence people’s assessment of truth.”

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Only 40% of birds survive collisions with windows, researchers say, suggesting that mortality rates are far higher than previously thought

Less than half of stunned or injured birds survive a collision with a window, research has found, pushing up estimates that more than 1 billion birds may die each year from flying into buildings in the US.

In a new study published on Wednesday in Plos One, researchers examined how many birds recovered in rehabilitative care after a building collision. Older estimates had assumed that most stunned birds would recover, but researchers found about 60% died, meaning the number killed by building strikes may be far higher than previously thought.

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The EU regulation mandating shipping companies to lower their fuel’s greenhouse gas intensity will be a bigger driver for shipping companies to switch to cleaner fuels than including the sector in the EU ETS, experts say.

Proposals for interlocking carbon pricing instruments in Chile could refine public policy instead of muddying the waters, but cohesive design and strategic approaches will be key, according to experts.

The London-headquartered investment and advisory firm and a US-based subsidiary of a forestry-focused nonprofit will partner to identify suitable afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects for carbon credits.

The highest sea temperatures in 400 years could threaten the reef's survival, say scientists.

A recently published report has revealed the world’s biggest fashion brands are not moving quickly enough to align with the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Researchers say coral analysis shows recent extreme temperatures would not have happened without greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels

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Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to new scientific research.

Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern observations.

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Saudi Aramco has purchased carbon credits from a compatriot carbon market participant to offset residual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a shipment of Arabian light crude.

A growing rift between developing and developed countries over how to interpret last year's Global Stocktake of Paris Agreement progress, and ongoing negotiations over a new climate finance goal, threaten to delay and weaken the third generation of national pledges, a think-tank warned on Wednesday.

Heavy industry will consume as much as 80% of the EU ETS revenue earmarked for the Belgian region of Flanders from now to 2030, leaving scant funding behind to finance decarbonisation and a just transition, according to analysis by an environmental think tank.

The Commonwealth of Nations is speaking to three jurisdictions about implementing a model carbon tax law that its secretariat published last year, and is planning to further promote the law at COP29.

US carbon credits certifier Verra has issued a ‘corrections and clarifications’ document to align the definition of ‘forest’ to that of the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) Assessment Framework of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).

A large commodity firm has announced it will keep its coal business, less than one year after saying it would exit the sector, following shareholder pressure.

An Indian think tank has launched a framework to try to drive investments in nature-based solutions (NBS) in the so-called Global South by measuring their potential benefits.

Issuance levels for new Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU) hit a new high in financial 2024, exceeding record volumes in 2023, even as trade in July hit a nine-month low, a carbon consultancy said this week.

A US company specialising in environmental measurement technology has announced the launch of its carbon credit trading platform, and the first transaction sourced from measured diesel engine emissions.