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What would happen if the entire world stopped eating meat
Posted by Conversation: None Given on March 27th, 2016
Conversation: Eating more fruit and vegetables and cutting back on red and processed meat will make you healthier. That’s obvious enough.
But as chickens and cows themselves eat food and burn off their own energy, meat is a also major driver of climate change. Going veggie can drastically reduce your carbon footprint.
This is all at a personal level. What about when you multiply such changes by 7 billion people, and factor in a growing population?
In our latest research, colleagues and I estimate that...
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Mass Extinctions And Climate Change: Why The Speed Of Rising Greenhouse Gases Matters
Posted by Conversation: None Given on March 24th, 2016
Conversation: We now know that greenhouse gases are rising faster than at any time since the demise of dinosaurs, and possibly even earlier. According to research published in Nature Geoscience this week, carbon dioxide (CO2) is being added to the atmosphere at least ten times faster than during a major warming event about 50 million years ago. We have emitted almost 600 billion tonnes of carbon since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and atmospheric CO2 concentrations are now increasing at a rate of...
As Indonesia Burns, Its Government Moves To Increase Forest Destruction
Posted by Conversation: None Given on November 24th, 2015
Conversation: In the midst of its worst fire crisis in living memory, the Indonesian government is taking a leap backward on forest protection. The recently signed Council of Palm Oil Producing Nations between Indonesia and Malaysia, signed at the weekend in Kuala Lumpur, will attempt to wind back palm oil companies' pledges to end deforestation.
If successful the move will undo recent attempts to end deforestation from palm oil production, and exacerbate the risk of future forest fires.
Forests on fire...
Can the Earth feed 11 billion people? Four reasons to fear a Malthusian future
Posted by Conversation: None Given on August 25th, 2015
Conversation: Humanity is on course for a population greater than 11 billion by the end of this century, according to the latest analysis from the UN’s population division. In a simple sense, population is the root cause of all sustainability issues. Clearly if there were no humans there would be no human impacts. Assuming you don’t wish to see the complete end of the human race – a desire that is shared by some deep green thinkers and Bond super-villians – then the issue is whether there is an optimal number...
Extreme weather exposes the vulnerability of our cities to climate change
Posted by Conversation: None Given on February 12th, 2015
Conversation: Despite the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, January and February were not kind months for the people of Boston and New England. By February 10th, more than 60 inches of snow in 30 days fell on the city and parts of the wider region, closing schools, shuttering businesses and offices, interrupting road, rail and air travel, paralyzing the region.
Across the Northeast and down highway I-95 as far as Philadelphia, the massive snowfalls caused disruption and damage totaling millions of dollars. Factor...
IPCC’s ‘most important report’ sets stage for Paris climate talks
Posted by Conversation: None Given on November 2nd, 2014
Conversation: Members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say they are confident their latest report, released in Copenhagen today, will help give politicians the impetus to commit to the deep emissions cuts needed to meet the world’s goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees.
Jim Skea, a vice-chair of the IPCC’s Working Group 3, which deals with measures to mitigate climate change, described the new Synthesis Report as “the most important report the IPCC has ever produced”, given that...
Saving water in drying climate: lessons from south-west Australia
Posted by Conversation: None Given on June 30th, 2014
Conversation: Michael Bennett was employed by the University of Western Australia with funding from the National Centre from Groundwater Research and Training.
The research for this project was funded by the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, a research initiative of the Australian Government funded through the National Water Commission and the Australian Research Council.
Since 1970, average rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia has decreased by nearly a fifth, and the science...
Not so cheap: Australia needs acknowledge the real cost of coal
Posted by Conversation: None Given on June 8th, 2014
Conversation: US President Barack Obama’s latest plan to reduce carbon emissions is a welcome one, and not just because it addresses climate change. In publicising the plan to cut emissions from old coal power stations, Obama put the emphasis on health. Now it is time for Australia to do the same.
Here we continue to ignore the real costs of coal, instead clinging to the myth that “coal is cheap”, justifying continuing expansion and subsidies for the industry.
In the immediate wake of last month’s budget,...
How your computer could reveal what’s driving record rain and heat in Australia and NZ
Posted by Conversation: None Given on March 26th, 2014
Conversation: 2013 was a record-breaking year for extreme heat in Australia and New Zealand.
More than 70% of Australia recorded temperatures above 42°C, with temperatures exceeding 48°C at a number of locations. On 7 January 2013, Australia experienced its hottest day on record with a national average maximum temperature of 40.3°C.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand the news at the time was dominated by drought. From January to March 2013, the North Island experienced an average of almost 80 days without rain, far...
Drought conditions return to Australia’s eastern states
Posted by Conversation: None Given on December 7th, 2013
Conversation: While much of Australia has received average to above average rainfall over recent months, parts of Australia such as western Queensland are in the middle of a drought.
Drought has been a feature of the Australian climate throughout its recorded history. But compared with other parts of the world, Australia is not as dry as you might think. None of the drier parts of Australia average less than 100 millimetres of rain a year, while parts of the Sahara and South America’s Atacama desert receive...