Solar panels all over the Sahara desert? – Imagine newsletter #2

Jun 07, 2019 15:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

You may have seen a variant of this meme before. A map of North Africa is shown, with a surprisingly small box somewhere in Libya or Algeria shaded in. An area of the Sahara this size, the caption will say, could power the...

Why there's more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere than you may have realised

Jun 07, 2019 15:53 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Zoe Loh, Research Scientist, CSIRO This week brought news that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels at the Mauna Loa atmospheric observatory in Hawaii have risen steeply for the seventh year in a row, reaching a May...

There's still so much we don't know about the star-gazing beetle with a tiny brain

May 27, 2019 09:12 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Edited extract from The Dance of the Dung Beetles published by Wits University Press. Dung beetles have been ever-present in the history of the West but oddly, less so elsewhere in religion, art, literature, science...

Eastern China pinpointed as source of rogue ozone-depleting emissions

May 25, 2019 06:49 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

A mysterious rebound in the emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals despite a global ban stretching back almost a decade has been traced to eastern China. Research published by an international team today in Nature...

Snack-sized 'candy' fish explain a coral mystery

May 25, 2019 06:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Youre swimming over a coral reef. What do you see? Most people will reply: fish. On a coral reef, fish are large, abundant, gaudily coloured and in-your-face impossible to miss. The waters around coral reefs must be...

We've declared a climate emergency – here's what universal basic income could do to help the planet

May 20, 2019 22:28 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Governments around the world are declaring climate and environmental emergencies to highlight the unsustainable ways in which humans, over a few generations, have transformed the planet. Weve made enough concrete to...

Australians disagree on how important climate change is: poll

May 17, 2019 02:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Climate change, the environment and energy policy are all key issues in this election campaign, fuelled by compelling evidence of our accelerating impact on the environment and climate. While voters agree more than you...