Car accidents, drownings, violence: hotter temperatures will mean more deaths from injury

Jan 14, 2020 23:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

What we suspected is now official: 2019 was Australias hottest year on record. The countrys average maximum temperature last year (30.69℃) was a scorching 2.09℃ hotter than the 1961-1990 average. For the whole planet,...

Australia's bushfires could drive more than 700 animal species to extinction

Jan 14, 2020 23:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The scale and speed of the current bushfire crisis has caught many people off-guard, including biodiversity scientists. People are scrambling to estimate the long-term effects. It is certain that many animal species will...

Some say we've seen bushfires worse than this before. But they're ignoring a few key facts

Jan 14, 2020 23:28 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Every time a weather extreme occurs, some people quickly jump in to say weve been through it all before: that worse events have happened in the past, or its just part of natural climate variability. The recent bushfire...

Jakarta's flood costs will increase by up to 400% by 2050, research shows

Jan 14, 2020 00:43 am UTC| Nature Economy Research & Analysis

Indonesia started 2020 with flood waters inundating parts of the capital Jakarta and surrounding areas, killing at least 67 people and displacing 300,000. This is something that Jakarta and other coastal cities may face...

Can an underwater soundtrack really bring coral reefs back to life?

Jan 14, 2020 00:37 am UTC| Nature

The ocean is a vast, quiet place, right? Vast, yes; quiet, not so much. As a researcher who studies coral reefs, Ive floated above many and, when I listen closely, my ears are invariably filled with sounds. There might...

Even for an air pollution historian like me, these past weeks have been a shock

Jan 14, 2020 00:31 am UTC| Nature

Smoke from this seasons bushfires has turned the sun red, the moon orange and the sky an insipid grey. It has obscured iconic views tourists flock to see. Far more than an aesthetic problem, it has forced business...

How should leaders respond to disasters? Be visible, offer real comfort – and don't force handshakes

Jan 10, 2020 10:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been harshly criticised for being on holiday in Hawaii as the catastrophic bushfires were burning Australia. Since his return, he has visited stricken communities most recently, on...