Has China's coal use peaked? Here's how to read the tea leaves
Apr 12, 2016 12:23 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature
As the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, how much coal China is burning is of global interest. In March, the countrys National Bureau of Statistics said the tonnage of coal has fallen for the second year...
19th century weather data is helping climate scientists predict the future
Apr 12, 2016 08:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
The 19th-century English historian Lord Acton famously advised people to live in both the future and the past, and said those who do not live in the past cannot live in the future. It may seem a stretch to apply this...
Burning fossil fuels is responsible for most sea-level rise since 1970
Apr 12, 2016 06:27 am UTC| Insights & Views Law Nature
Global average sea level has risen by about 17 cm between 1900 and 2005. This is a much faster rate than in the previous 3,000 years. The sea level changes for several reasons, including rising temperatures as fossil...
Here's a way to make carbon markets work better
Apr 08, 2016 16:26 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Carbon markets could play a crucial role in delivering promises made at the Paris climate conference. The idea behind carbon markets is simple. A government issues a limited number of permits, which companies can then...
We keep flushing valuable thermal energy down the drain
Apr 08, 2016 09:49 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Every time you flush your toilet or drain the bath, youre losing something surprisingly valuable: heat. It takes a lot of energy to warm up the water in the first place, and vast amounts of this energy simply disappear...
Climate change threatens entire ecosystems -- let's pick them up and move them
Apr 08, 2016 09:38 am UTC| Nature
Climate change poses a major threat to the worlds ecosystems. As the world warms, animals and plants will move to keep pace with their preferred climate, but many will be unable to keep up with the speed of change,...
Coral Bleaching Taskforce: more than 1,000 km of the Great Barrier Reef has bleached
Apr 07, 2016 05:47 am UTC| Nature
One of Australias most important natural assets, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), is being affected by the worst ever bleaching in its history, amid warmer than average water temperatures associated with this summers major El...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight