The Conversation

The findings underscore the urgency of limiting global warming to below 1.5℃, to avert the most catastrophic climate harms. Laura Herraiz Borreguero, Physical oceanographer, CSIRO Alberto Naveira Garabato, Professor, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Jess Melbourne-Thomas, Transdisciplinary Researcher & Knowledge Broker, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

There’s been a lot of talk about pulling the gas trigger. The problem is, the trigger is too slow and too easy to avoid. Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Under the Greens’ proposal, future projects, such as a new mine or high emissions industrial plant, would be assessed on the climate harms they’d potentially cause. Brendan Sydes, Honorary Senior Fellow, Melbourne Law Masters, The University of Melbourne Anita Foerster, Associate professor, Monash University Laura Schuijers, Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law and Lecturer in Law, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

To develop a hydrogen economy at the scale of Aotearoa’s climate ambitions would require about a quarter of the country’s current energy use and swallow enormous amounts of water. David Dempsey, Senior lecturer, University of Canterbury Andy Nicol, University of Canterbury Kēpa Morgan, Adjunct Nga Pae o te Māramatanga, University of Auckland Ludmila Adam, Senior lecturer, University of Auckland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

From Barbados to Finland, we’ve seen women’s leadership on climate bring fair, innovative and ambitious policies. Jacqueline Peel, Director, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne Annabelle Workman, Research Fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne Kathryn Bowen, Professor - Environment, Climate and Global Health at Melbourne Climate Futures and Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, The University of Melbourne Rebekkah Markey-Towler, PhD Candidate, Melbourne Law School, and Research fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Nature is both the trigger for, and answer to, the grief that will increasingly be with us. Ross Westoby, Research Fellow, Griffith University Karen E McNamara, Associate professor, The University of Queensland Rachel Clissold, Researcher, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Double-lane freeways can act as lethal walls to wildlife. We found underpasses work well to give animals safe crossing. Ross Goldingay, Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation & Biology, Southern Cross University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Until now, a more expensive type of silicon was used to produce the highest-efficiency solar panels. Now there’s a way to use cheaper raw materials, cutting the cost of solar power for everyone. Bruno Vicari Stefani, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Solar Technologies, CSIRO Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney Matthew Wright, Postdoctoral Researcher in Photovoltaic Engineering, University of Oxford Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Labor’s new tax cut is a far cry from what’s needed to meet Australia’s target of 89% new car sales being electric by 2030. Anna Mortimore, Lecturer, Griffith Business School, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Determining whether a region or farm is “in drought” is a longstanding and complex problem which remains important to our future drought response. Neal Hughes, Adjunct Associate Professor, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Ad hoc, lot-by-lot efforts to house more people in our ageing suburbs are failing to increase liveability and sustainability. Our cities need strategic, precinct-scale regeneration. Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Giles Thomson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Strategic Sustainable Development, Blekinge Institute of Technology Peter Newton, Emeritus Professor in Sustainable Urbanism, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology Stephen Glackin, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australia’s protected areas have grown and grown. But at the same time, ecosystems are falling apart. How can that be? Benjamin Cooke, Senior lecturer, RMIT University Aidan Davison, Associate Professor, University of Tasmania Jamie Kirkpatrick, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania Lilian Pearce, Lecturer, Environmental Humanities, Centre for the Study of the Inland, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Tidal marshes can build up their soil to keep pace with sea-level rises – up to a point. It turns out the point when the marsh is drowned matches the average rise when global warming exceeds 1.5℃. Neil Saintilan, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

While artificially illuminating the night allows humans to make use of the the night, in doing so we catastrophically change the environment for all other species. How can we fix this? Therésa Jones, Associate Professor in Evolution and Behaviour, The University of Melbourne Kathryn McNamara, Post-doctoral research associate, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

This event was the world’s worst incidence of mangrove tree deaths in recorded history. These photos show the devastating scale of this disaster. Norman Duke, Professor of Mangrove Ecology, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The new State of the Environment report shows Australia’s soil and the life it holds is in poor condition. We need to protect our underground biodiversity. Adam Frew, Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Southern Queensland Christina Birnbaum, Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland Eleonora Egidi, Researcher, Western Sydney University Meike Katharina Heuck, PhD Candidate, University of Southern Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Labor won’t concede to the Greens’ core demands on the bill, but a climate “trigger” on new developments could ensure the bill has real force. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Digging is a natural and important behaviour for cats – trying to interrupt it may cause stress and confusion for your pet. But if your cat is kicking litter everywhere, here are a few tips to try. Susan Hazel, Senior Lecturer, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Julia Henning, PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Almost half of the rehabilitated possums in our study were killed by foxes shortly after release. Keeping wildlife wild during rescue is hard – but necessary. Holly Cope, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney Catherine Herbert, Associate professor, University of Sydney Clare McArthur, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, University of Sydney Valentina Mella, Postdoctoral research associate, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The recent State of the Environment report assessed nature’s impact to Australians’ wellbeing for the first time. Here’s what it found. John Turnbull, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney Emma Johnston, Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.