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…
Articles by The Conversation
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…
How a Japanese system can help African cities adapt to climate change
Sub-Saharan Africa is already experiencing the realities of a changing climate – and the situation is only going to get worse. The reasons for this…
African countries and the state of their environments: the best and the worst
Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Flinders University and Enrico Di Minin, University of Helsinki Social and economic changes in Africa are being driven by increasing prosperity…
Water: underground source for billions could take more than a century to respond fully to climate change
Groundwater is the biggest store of accessible freshwater in the world, providing billions of people with water for drinking and crop irrigation. That’s all despite…
Microplastics have even been blown into a remote corner of the Pyrenees
Microplastics have been discovered in a remote area of the French Pyrenees mountains. The particles travelled through the atmosphere and were blown into the once…
The terror of climate change is transforming young people's identity
Today, at least 50 rallies planned across Australia are expected to draw thousands of students who are walking out of school to protest climate change…
The Green New Deal’s contradiction – new infrastructure and redistribution may boost carbon emissions
The Green New Deal has broadened imaginations worldwide on the subject of climate change, encouraging people to consider what action to tackle it could do…
Lessons from Cyclone Gaja: how to limit the impact of extreme weather in developing countries
Taking up almost the entire southern tip of India, Tamil Nadu is the country’s second-largest economy. Its delta region is considered to be the “rice…