Climate Change Series

We can cut emissions in half by 2040 if we build smarter cities

Dec 01, 2016 19:24 pm UTC| Nature

As a planet, we have some serious climate targets to meet in the coming years. The Paris Agreement, signed by 192 countries, set an aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ᵒC. The United Nations Sustainable...

How microplastics make their way up the ocean food chain into fish

Dec 01, 2016 19:13 pm UTC| Nature

Up to 236,000 tonnes of microplastics tiny pieces of broken-down plastic smaller than your little fingernail enter our oceans each year. This has researchers around the world worried, as wildlife can be harmed by eating...

From warm to swarm: why insect activity increases in summer

Dec 01, 2016 02:38 am UTC| Nature

While the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting an increase in the average temperature this summer, entomologists are forecasting an increase in insect activity. It might seem that insects choose to annoy us over the...

Climate Change Series

No politician can singlehandedly bring back coal – not even Donald Trump

Dec 01, 2016 02:23 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

On the night Donald Trump won the US election, one of the many jubilant supporters featured in the media coverage was 67-year-old Doug Ratliff of Richlands, Virginia. An owner of struggling shopping malls in a region hit...

Future of Coal Series

Why coal-fired power stations need to shut on health grounds

Dec 01, 2016 02:13 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The Senate inquirys report into the planned closure of coal-fired power stations will no doubt shed light on the compelling health reasons to close them. Coal-fired stations are a health hazard to their local...

Earth’s Destruction By Mankind Starkly Clear Through Google Earth Timelapse

Nov 30, 2016 10:11 am UTC| Technology Nature

Its long been known that human activity and progress has come at the cost of environmental damage, which have led to some of the most catastrophic results in recent history. With super typhoons, extreme droughts,...

The absurdity of natural history – or, why humans are 'fish'

Nov 29, 2016 17:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The human desire to classify is perhaps at its strongest when it comes to natural history. From our childhood years we are taught to put the animals we encounter in museums, living rooms and the natural environment into...