These African World Heritage Sites are under threat from climate change
Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity…
Articles by The Conversation
A novel idea: integrating urban and rural safety nets in Africa during the pandemic
In countries across Africa, the public health restrictions imposed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic have thrown many people out of work. Cities face the…
We won’t have fusion generators in five years. But the holy grail of clean energy may still be on its way
Matthew Hole, Australian National University Recent reports from scientists pursuing a new kind of nuclear fusion technology are encouraging, but we are still some distance…
A home that will keep you warm and cool the planet
A home that will keep you warm and cool the planet “… everything from mining the materials for the cement to chopping down the trees…
Five ways to turn CO₂ from pollution to a valuable product
Ella Adlen, University of Oxford and Cameron Hepburn, University of Oxford It’s far easier to avoid burning fossil fuels than it is to clean up…
What will the world be like after coronavirus? Four possible futures
Simon Mair, University of Surrey Where will we be in six months, a year, ten years from now? I lie awake at night wondering what…
Green ammonia could slash emissions from farming – and power ships of the future
For the past 100 years, a simple molecule has had an immensely positive impact on our world. Ammonia, which comprises three hydrogen atoms bonded to…
Chief Scientist: we need to transform our world into a sustainable ‘electric planet’
I want you to imagine a highway exclusively devoted to delivering the world’s energy. Each lane is restricted to trucks that carry one of the…
Smart water heating could help in South Africa’s energy crisis
MJ (Thinus) Booysen, Stellenbosch University South Africa’s energy crisis has many dimensions, from political and economic to technical and environmental. Recently, the country’s power utility,…
Using language to make the world of fossil fuels strange and ugly
They weren’t getting it. I had a room full of bright first-year university students in front of me, but confusion reigned as I tried to…
National greenhouse gas reporting needs an overhaul – it’s time to directly measure the atmosphere
How much greenhouse gas is emitted by any individual country? With global emissions of carbon dioxide hitting a record of 36.8 billion tonnes this…
Earth has a couple more chances to avoid catastrophic climate change. This week is one of them
Robert Hales, Griffith University; Johanna Nalau, Griffith University; Samid Suliman, Griffith University, and Tim Cadman, Griffith University Almost 200 world leaders gather in Madrid this…
Climate explained: how volcanoes influence climate and how their emissions compare to what we produce
Michael Petterson, Auckland University of Technology Everyone is going on about reducing our carbon footprint, zero emissions, planting sustainable crops for biodiesel etc. Is it…
Indonesia’s huge fires and toxic haze will cause health problems for years to come
Maria C. Lo Bue, United Nations University Indonesia is currently in the throes of an environmental emergency. Thousands of hectares of forest are burning across…
How AI and robots will help safeguard our offshore energy infrastructure in the future
The modern world depends on the smooth provision of vital services such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, food, water and healthcare. But the systems underpinning these…
We can’t expand airports after declaring a climate emergency – let’s shift to low-carbon transport instead
Jefim Vogel, University of Leeds; Joel Millward-Hopkins, University of Leeds, and Yannick Oswald, University of Leeds The world may finally be waking to the reality…