Climate Change Series

Are toxic algal blooms the new normal for Australia's major rivers?

May 18, 2016 08:43 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

For much of this year, up to 1,700 kilometres of the Murray River has been hit by a serious outbreak of potentially toxic blue-green algae, which has flourished in the hotter-than-average conditions. After three months,...

Climate Change Series

2016 is likely to be the world's hottest year: here's why

May 18, 2016 03:07 am UTC| Nature

Were not even halfway through the year but already you may have heard talk of 2016 being the hottest on record. But how can scientists be so sure were going to beat the previous record, set just last year? Even before...

New report on GE crops avoids simple answers -- and that's the point, study members say

May 18, 2016 00:09 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Editors note: In a new report, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have provided a broad review of available information on genetically engineered (GE) crops and their impacts on the environment and...

Climate Change Series

Why the effects of 2016 El Niño trumped climate change in the Alberta wildfires

May 17, 2016 16:15 pm UTC| Nature

In the wake of the damaging Alberta fires, there has been a lot of attention paid to what role climate change plays in wildfires. Yet 2016 is also a powerful El Niño year, which has created ideal conditions for the...

Climate Change Series

Fairness on the agenda as UN begins job of strengthening the Paris climate deal

May 16, 2016 13:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The dust has long settled from Decembers Paris climate summit, which hammered out the first truly global deal to reduce emissions. But the negotiations ended with widespread acknowledgement that the deal needs significant...

Climate Change Series

The things people ask about the scientific consensus on climate change

May 13, 2016 10:42 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Its been almost a month since the paper I co-authoured on the synthesis of research into the scientific consensus on climate change was published. Surveying the many studies into scientific agreement, we found that more...

Future of Coal Series

Climate Change Series

South Australia is now coal-free, and batteries could fill the energy gap

May 13, 2016 10:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

South Australias last coal-fired power station closed on Monday this week, leaving the state with only gas and wind power generators. The Northern Power Station, in Port Augusta on the northern end of the Spencer Gulf,...