By Philip Donkersley | – When you think of bees, a hive humming with activity probably comes to mind. But most of the world’s 20,000 bee species don’t call a hive home. These wild species lead solitary lives instead, and around 70% of them build nests underground where they raise their offspring on the nectar […]
Decline of Coal shows Gov’t Policy, Renewables crucial to Reducing Carbon Emissions: The Market isn’t Enough
By David Drake and Jeffrey York | – The big idea People often point to plunging natural gas prices as the reason U.S. coal-fired power plants have been shutting down at a faster pace in recent years. However, new research shows two other forces had a much larger effect: federal regulation and a well-funded activist […]
Where does the 10 Million Tons of Plastic we put into the Oceans Annually actually go?
By Bruce Sutherland, Michelle DiBenedetto and Ton van den Bremer | – Of the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste we produce each year, it’s estimated that around ten million tonnes enters the ocean. Roughly half of the plastics produced are less dense than water, and so they float. But scientists estimate that […]
How Miracle Workers made 60% of S. Australia’s Electricity Green in only 20 Years
By Michael McGreevy and Fran Baum | – Less than two decades ago, South Australia generated all its electricity from fossil fuels. Last year, renewables provided a whopping 60% of the state’s electricity supply. The remarkable progress came as national climate policy was gripped by paralysis – so how did it happen? Our research set […]
Gulf War: As Biden bombs Iraqis, 30 years on the consequences of Desert Storm are still with us
By Lorena De Vita and Amir Taha | – It was a short message to end a short war. On February 26 1991, Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz put his signature to a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council: I have the honour to notify you that the Iraqi Government reaffirms its agreement […]
Facebook’s news blockade in Australia shows how tech giants are swallowing the web
By Jennifer Grygiel | – When Facebook disabled Australians’ access to news articles on its platform, and blocked sharing of articles from Australian news organizations, the company moved a step closer to killing the World Wide Web – the hyperlink-based system of freely connecting online sites created in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Though the […]
Texas blackouts show why energy should be a universal right
By Gordon Walker | – An unprecedented cold wave in the US state of Texas recently left several million households without power for days on end, as temperatures dropped well below freezing. Dozens of people died from hypothermia, car crashes, house fires or carbon monoxide poisoning from running cars or generators simply to keep warm. […]
Saving the Planet: Why a net-zero future depends on the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon
By Anya M. Waite, Brad deYoung, Chris Milley, and Ian G. Stewart | – Most of us growing up along Canada’s East Coast never worried about hurricane season. Except for those working at sea, we viewed hurricanes as extreme events in remote tropical regions, seen only through blurred footage of flailing palm trees on the […]
Biden and the Iran nuclear deal: what to expect from the negotiations
By Ali Bilgic | – As Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, speculation was rife that one of the first things his administration would do would be to seek re-entry to the Iran nuclear deal that had been quit by his predecessor in the White House. The Joint […]