A brain wired differently: New science points to four distinct types of autism
Wednesday 31 December 2025
Washington: When the son of Marc and Cristina Easton was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, the Baltimore couple left the doctor’s appointment in confusion.
Noticing a senior relative acting oddly over Christmas? The signs it could be dementia
Tuesday 30 December 2025
For all the rousing revelry and festive fizz that Christmas Day can bring, for some it only ramps up the confusion and anxiety.
The Global Prominence of Bait-and-Switch Frauds
Monday 29 December 2025
Notice the hooks hiding behind the flashy lures in religion and capitalism
Why humanity no longer needs religion
Sunday 28 December 2025
Morality, community, meaning & purpose in a post-religious society
Saturday 27 December 2025
Why I don’t punish my teen for lying, and what the research says about dishonesty as a developmental milestone
Jesus Wept – Seven Popes and the Battle for The Soul of the Catholic Church
Friday 26 December 2025
If the first hundred days of a papacy can shake up the Catholic church, how much drama occurs over 80 years?
10 Hilarious Jokes About Aging Too Real To be Funny
Thursday 25 December 2025
Written by Someone Who’s Terrified of Turning 40
Indigenous climate knowledge sidelined despite frontline impacts, new research finds
Wednesday 24 December 2025
Indigenous environmental knowledge continues to be sidelined in mainstream climate science around the world despite First Nations communities being among the first to experience the impacts of climate…
Marine heat waves and raw sewage combine to put human health at risk
Tuesday 23 December 2025
Climate change is fueling an increasing number of marine heat waves across the globe. When this intensifying heat is coupled with pollution — especially sewage, nitrogen fertilizer agricultural runoff, wildfire soot and possibly plastics — waterborne bacterial pathogens can multiply, raising human health concerns.
One word sums up climate politics in 2025: Greenlash
Monday 22 December 2025
In a year shaped by Trump’s return to the White House, the new administration touted “energy dominance” and protesters threw eggs at “swasticars.”
Who Pays for the Typhoon? The Legal Reckoning for Fossil Fuels
Sunday 21 December 2025
In a landmark legal battle, survivors of one of the Philippines’ worst typhoons are suing oil giant Shell for damages
Saturday 20 December 2025
After 15 years as a psychologist, here are the truths we’re trained not to say out loud
Environmental laws not settled yet – SBS News In Depth podcast
Friday 19 December 2025
Environment and business groups says work has just begun to ensure Australia’s environment laws are more effective in practice. Parliament passed the first major overhaul in two decades this year, but stakeholders say the devil may be in the detail.
Thursday 18 December 2025
Scientific evidence in 2025 showed global warming accelerating faster than expected, while emissions continued to rise and climate policy lagged dangerously behind physical reality.
Electricity generation costs would be a third lower with 82% renewable grid, CSIRO says
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Modelling suggests by 2050 main electricity market could run almost entirely on renewables without increase in generation cost
Australia wants to add 1.8 billion tonnes of thermal coal in face of declining market conditions
Tuesday 16 December 2025
Australia’s thermal coal pipeline seems dangerously misaligned with market and climate realities in a landscape of shrinking demand, growing competition, escalating costs, climate risks and labour shortages.
Monday 15 December 2025
Consequences Travel Farther Than Intentions
Sunday 14 December 2025
Your choices shape your life, but everyone else’s choices can reshape it just as much.
It’s Okay to Take a Break from Your “No Politics” Friends
Saturday 13 December 2025
Every authoritarian regime needs citizens to choose comfort over conscience.
Millions of hectares are still being cut down every year. How can we protect global forests?
12 December 2025
Ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Belém last month, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva urged world leaders to agree to roadmaps away from fossil fuels and deforestation and pledge the resources to meet these goals.
‘A planet in peril’: UN calls for global climate investment to unlock €17 trillion benefit by 2070
Thursday 11 December 2025
A global change in direction is necessary to help secure a healthy planet, according to a new UN report.
‘Food and fossil fuel production causing $5bn of environmental damage an hour’
Wednesday 10 December 2025
UN GEO report says ending this harm key to global transformation required ‘before collapse becomes inevitable’
Conservation’s hot topics of 2026: From artificial intelligence to mirror molecules
Tuesday 9 December 2025
Forests, soil, plastic waste, war debris, and a darker ocean also appear on the annual ‘horizon scan’ addressing conservation priorities for the years ahead.
Grim outlook for river spanning four states if nothing is done to combat climate’s impact
Monday 8 December 2025
Water needs for river communities will be under increasing pressure over the next 25 years, according to predictions from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Sunday 7 December 2025
Physics, arguably the most basic of sciences, is in the middle of an ongoing crisis that appears to be without end. This becomes clear if one notes that the physics Nobel Prize in 2024 was awarded for work on artificial neural networks, a mathematical model that uses nodes (neurons) in a layered architecture to recognize patterns and correlations in data, which has nothing to do with physics.
Saturday 6 December 2025
Battery hub online as wind plan abandoned
A giant battery that is the initial project under the State Electricity Commission is now operational, the first instance of state-owned electricity generation since the 1990s.
“Transformational:” First Nations group seals first-of-its-kind stake in giant battery project
A local First Nations group has secured an equity stake in a major $450 million battery storage project in western NSW, in a first-of-its kind deal that the developer and local indigenous leaders hope will become a template for the industry.
How helpful is carbon capture in mitigating global warming? – SBS News In Depth podcast
Friday 5 December 2025
A new European Union initiative to store carbon dioxide beneath the North Sea is set to launch its operations next year. But environmental activists are concerned carbon capture technologies dissuade industries from acting to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Reuse and return schemes could help eliminate plastic pollution in 15 years, says report
Thursday 4 December 2025
Pew Charitable Trusts finds plastic pollution will more than double globally by 2040 unless action taken
What the ICJ’s climate law decision means for Australia
Wednesday 3 December 2025
A landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice clarifies that states have a duty under international law to prevent climate harm – with serious implications for Australia’s fossil fuel approvals and future litigation.
Are UN climate summits a waste of time? No, but they are in dire need of reform
Tuesday 2 December 2025
The United Nations’ global climate summit has finished for another year. Some progress was made in Brazil on climate finance and adaptation. But efforts to end reliance on fossil fuels were stymied by – you guessed it – fossil fuel powers.
Australia finally acknowledges environment underpins all else. That’s no small thing
Monday 1 December 2025
In what are dangerous times for democracies around the world, parliament’s overhaul of nature laws in the EPBC Act shows ambitious reform remains possible
How Billionaires Profit from a Lie at the Heart of the Climate Crisis
Sunday 30 November 2025
With the greatest sleight of hand in modern history, the true cause of the climate crisis was rebranded as its solution — and billionaires cashed in
Robots look the part, but do they work?
Saturday 29 November 2025
In a video published this week by China’s UBTech, hundreds of the firm’s humanoid robots march in unison, lining up neatly or stomping in rhythm, as they pack themselves into delivery trucks. The company claims it has made its first mass shipments of the robots to customers, something rival robotmakers like Tesla and Figure are yet to do.
Friday 28 November 2025
Today is a landmark day for environmental law. After years of false starts and abandoned promises, Labor has finally struck a deal with the Greens to pass long-awaited changes to the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The laws are expected to pass the Senate today – the final parliamentary sitting day of the year.
Labor strikes deal with Greens to end environmental reform stalemate
Thursday 27 November 2025
Labor has struck a deal with the Greens to overhaul Australia’s “broken” environmental laws, ending a years-long stalemate while also addressing some concerns raised by business.
Wednesday 26 November 2025
Australia is home to extraordinary reptiles and frogs, from giant lace monitors to tiny alpine froglets. Over 1,100 reptiles and 250 frog species are found across the Australian continent and islands. But we are losing them.
Long-awaited environment laws might get Australia sued. Here’s why
Tuesday 25 November 2025
Australia is rewriting its national environment laws, and Environment Minister Murray Watt has vowed the legislation will pass the parliament this week, despite not yet reaching agreement with either the Coalition or the Greens. But the current draft bill leaves the country exposed to significant legal, environmental and political risk.
Monday 24 November 2025
A deal is welcome after talks nearly collapsed but the final agreement contains small steps rather than leaps
900,000 Years Ago, A Near-Extinction Killed Everyone Except 1,000 Humans
Our ancestors faced a fight for survival that changed the future of our species
New report reveals major risks in turning oceans into carbon sinks
Friday 21 November 2025
Oceans may help capture carbon in the future, but experts warn the world must proceed cautiously and prioritize cutting emissions now.
Thursday 20 November 2025
Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offers world hope of avoiding climate breakdown
Explainer: Bam! What is the acronym everyone is talking about at Cop30?
Wednesday 19 November 2025
Securing the Belém Action Mechanism is a top priority for climate justice advocates at the talks in Brazil
Tuesday 18 November 2025
This cartoon by Cathy Wilcox says it all. The Liberals are no longer an effective opposition.
Factchecking five Coalition claims about net zero, from power prices to the $9tn cost
Monday 17 November 2025
As Liberals join Nationals in abandoning a 2050 emissions target, we unpick some of the opposition’s talking
How to use chatbots to make you smarter, not dumber
Sunday 15 November 2025
AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence, a hypothetical type of AI that could understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of intellectual tasks at a human level or beyond. Unlike current AI, which is designed for specific tasks, AGI would be able to adapt to new and unseen situations by transferring knowledge and reasoning flexibly. The development of AGI is an ongoing research goal and is considered the ultimate pursuit in artificial intelligence development.
Key characteristics of AGI
Generalization:
AGI could transfer skills from one domain to another, a capability known as generalization. For example, it could use knowledge learned in one context to solve a completely different problem it has never encountered before.
Common Sense:
AGI would possess a broad understanding of the world, including facts, relationships, and social norms, to reason and make decisions like humans do.
Self-direction:
Unlike current AI, which operates within pre-determined parameters, AGI would have a degree of autonomous self-control, self-understanding, and the ability to learn new skills independently.
Human-like cognitive abilities:
The ultimate goal of AGI is to replicate the cognitive abilities of the human brain, allowing it to perform any intellectual task that a human can.
Current status and challenges
Hypothetical stage:
AGI is still a concept and a goal that researchers are working toward, rather than a reality.
Significant hurdles:
Developing AGI is challenging because human intelligence involves complex traits like creativity, common sense, and intuition, which are difficult to replicate in machines.
Focus on current AI:
Today’s AI systems are considered “narrow AI” because they are specialized for specific tasks, such as image recognition or language processing, but cannot generalize those skills to entirely new problems.
It’s not fantastic: why pointless plastic costs us more
How we’ve been conned into recycling by Big Plastic
Saturday 15 November 2025
There are two articles today from this week’s Melbourne AGE, both on the scourge of wrapping food in plastic.
The world’s carbon emissions continue to rise. But 35 countries show progress in cutting carbon
Friday 14 November 2025
Global fossil fuel emissions are projected to rise in 2025 to a new all-time high, with all sources – coal, gas, and oil – contributing to the increase.
COP30 live: ‘literally insane’ that we are letting global heating happen, says Al Gore
Thursday 13 November 2025
Former US vice-president also critical of Donald Trump and Bill Gates as negotiations begin in earnest
Five charts show what has changed since the world agreed to fight climate change
Wednesday 12 November 2025
It was a moment of euphoria when the world came together to sign a pact on climate action. Ten years on from the 2015 Paris Agreement we managed to shift the needle. But the problem is it’s just not happening fast enough.
How much should we really worry about microplastics?
Tuesday 11 November 2025
What a major scientific review reveals about microplastic exposure.
Amid squabbles, bombast and competing interests, what can Cop30 achieve?
Tuesday 10 December 2025
Climate summit in Brazil needs to find way to stop global heating accelerating amid stark divisions
The purposeful misinterpretation of Bill Gate’s climate message to world leaders
Sunday 9 November 2025
Last week, as world leaders prepared to attend the COP-30 climate talks, Bill Gates dropped a bomb, saying they are paying too much attention to reducing climate-altering pollution and too little attention to reducing human suffering.
234 Million Years Ago, It Rained for Two Million Years
Saturday 8 November 2025
This rain cleared the way for dinosaurs to rule the world
Friday 7 November 2025
Along with delegates from all over the world, I’ll be heading to the United Nations COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belém. Like many others, I’m unsure what to expect.
How the plastics industry shifted responsibility for recycling onto you, the consumer
Thursday 6 November 2025
Australia’s recycling system has been lurching from one crisis to another for decades. Soft-plastic schemes are collapsing, kerbside contamination is on the rise, and states are still struggling to coordinate a coherent national approach.
Only 3% of international climate aid going to transitioning communities: ‘This is absurd’
Wednesday 5 November 2025
New report on funding to slash carbon emissions finds startlingly low engagement with the people affected
Is China the World’s Best Climate Hope?
Tuesday 4 November 2025
How the world’s largest carbon emitter went from climate villain to potential savior
A warming Earth could accidentally trigger a deep freeze
Monday 3 November 2025
When Earth’s heat rises, life’s response can paradoxically freeze the planet.
When “Miracle Cures” Kill: The Art of Science-Washing
Sunday 2 November 2025
Read this before buying that ‘science-backed’ supplement
The Best Thing That Could Happen to the Energy Industry | Matt Tilleard | TED
Saturday 1 November 2025
History has been written by whoever controls the dominant fuel of the era — until now, says renewables entrepreneur Matt Tilleard. He explains why, as the clean energy transition ramps up, we’re moving from a world where energy comes from burning fuels to one where it will come from using technology. Learn why this could change everything about global power dynamics — and why the future belongs not to those who control resources, but to those who build and share technology. (Recorded at TED Countdown Summit 2025 on June 16, 2025)
Friday 31 October 2025
‘Every project developer is absolutely convinced that their project is in the national interest,’ Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation boss says
America’s super-rich are running down the planet’s safe climate spaces, says Oxfam
Thursday 30 October 2025
Data shows wealthiest 0.1% of the US burn carbon at 4,000 times the rate of the world’s poorest 10%
Wednesday 29 October 2025
The highest priority must be to ensure land-clearing is properly regulated to save our native forests
Climate change is a crisis of intergenerational justice. It’s not too late to make it right
Tuesday 28 October 2025
Climate change is the biggest issue of our time. 2024 marked both the hottest year on record and the highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the past two million years.
Monday 27 October 2025
There are some decent elements in what Labor is proposing, but the overhaul could end up as tinkering rather than transformation
I Went to a No Kings Protest at a Church, and What I Saw Shocked Me
Sunday 26 October 2025
For context, I’m a liberal ex-Christian feminist in a Republican town
Every choice has an energy cost. Learn to manage your budget
Saturday 25 October 2025
Modern life demands constant decision-making. From mundane choices such as what to wear, to weightier ones about careers or relationships, the process can be exhausting.
Labor needs to bow to Liberals or Greens or its environment law revamp is dead
Friday 24 October 2025
The Albanese government will need to make major concessions to pass promised federal nature laws as Liberals attack ‘nature positive 2.0’
Plastic’s triumph was no accident. It built an economy addicted to throwaway living
Thursday 23 October 2025
When Saabira Chaudhuri began covering consumer goods companies for The Wall Street Journal, she expected stories about marketing and product launches. Instead, she uncovered a deeper pattern: industrial ingenuity turned liability.
A carbon price for the grid that Australia might finally agree on – SwitchedOn podcast
Wednesday 22 October 2025
Australia’s electricity sector is decarbonising — but not fast enough. While the Renewable Energy Target has been doing the heavy lifting to incentivise the rollout of wind and solar, it doesn’t require fossil fuel generators to cut their emissions.
Big Green Lies: Are renewables really “tearing up” agricultural land?
Tuesday 21 October 2025
In the first of a new series tackling clean energy BS, Tristan Edis asks why National Party politicians are so keen to paint renewables as the enemy of the farmer while cheering on fossil fuels?
Millions march for ‘No Kings’ in biggest protest against Trump to date
Monday 20 October 2025
Millions of Americans have taken to the streets across the country in what is believed to be the largest co-ordinated demonstration against US President Donald Trump and his government since he took office in January
A Canadian Industrial Strategy for the Electric Century
Sunday 19 October 2025
Canada has clean power, critical minerals, and talent — what it lacks is courage in the face of automotive nostalgia
Is Your Moral Circle Expanding?
Saturday 18 October 2025
It seems like many are not
Has the Paris Agreement started to work? The numbers are in
Friday 17 October 2025
The pact has started to have an impact on global warming, but not fast enough to save us from the impact of heat already ravaging oceans and forests.
CO2 emissions reached record high in 2024, report finds
Thursday 16 October 2025
The World Meteorological Organization says carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing at rates that have tripled since the 1960s, and emissions from human activities and more wildfires have helped fan a “vicious climate cycle.”
‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus
Tuesday 14 October 2025
Global warming from Woodside’s massive Scarborough gas project off Western Australia would lead to 484 additional heat-related deaths in Europe alone this century, and kill about 16 million additional corals on the Great Barrier Reef during each future mass bleaching event, our new research has revealed.
Electricity from renewables overtakes coal in Australia for the first time
Monday 13 October 2025
Electricity generated from renewable sources has surpassed the amount of electricity generated from coal in Australia for the first time.
Renewables have now passed coal globally – and growth is fastest in countries like Bhutan and Nepal
Friday 10 October 2025
For the first time, renewables have toppled coal as the world’s leading source of electricity, in keeping with International Energy Agency projections for this historic shift.
Watt nears deal with Coalition to finally overhaul environment laws
Thursday 9 October 2025
Environment Minister Murray Watt will sit down with his Liberal counterpart Angie Bell today, with quiet optimism in both parties that a deal might soon be struck to finally rewrite Australia’s “broken” and outdated environment laws.
When sunshine became cheaper than coal
Monday 8 October 2025
Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables.
Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says
Tuesday 7 October 2025
Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions
The dog ate my homework! The missing pieces of the climate plan
Monday 6 October 2025
The recently released ‘National Adaption Plan’ of how to manage risks and combat climate change is high on …
Wildfires are getting deadlier and costing more. Experts warn they’re becoming unstoppable
Friday 3 October 2025
Of 200 fires in the past 44 years, half of the fires that cost US$1bn or more were in the last decade
Ocean heat was off the charts, and Australia bore the brunt
Thursday 2 October 2025
For the past year, Australia’s oceans have been hotter than ever before. The impacts are being felt all across the nation — as far away from the coast as you can get.
Australia’s laws to protect the environment don’t work. Woodside’s 40-year greenlight proves it
Wednesday 1 October 2025
Approval of the North West Shelf extension shows the purpose of the EPBC Act is to allow developments, not to protect and preserve
Trump-style ‘climate hoax’ playbook spreads to Australia
Tuesday 30 September 2025
US researchers have tracked how dark money funds a tangled web of climate denial think tanks with vested interests in slowing climate action.
Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds
Monday 29 September 2025
Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions
Sunday 28 September 2025
Big Data Big Brother Big Problem
AI Is a Buck-Passing Technology
Saturday 27 September 2025
AI usage makes your work someone else’s problem
George Dillard
Science’s answer to the ultimate question: Where do we come from?
Friday 26 September 2025
Questions about our origins, biologically, chemically, and cosmically, are the most profound ones we can ask. Here are today’s best answers.
Australia’s horrifying climate future in four charts – and how we can avoid the worst
Thursday 25 september 2025
Maps released by the Australian Climate Service show just how bad things will get for heatwaves, drought and coastal flooding
Global report confirms and details nuclear power’s stagnation: Someone needs to tell the Coalition
Wednesday 24 September 2025
As Coalition’s Dan Tehan talks up nuclear from a “fact-finding” tour of the US, the industry’s annual status report provides a completely different picture.
Monday 22 September 2025
Elon Musk believes the collapsing birth rate is humanity’s biggest danger. But antinatalists argue having kids is little more than a procreational Ponzi scheme, and the risks are real. This is the case against babies.
Godless Societies are as Irrational as Religious Ones
Sunday 21 September 2025
By targeting the most simple-minded religious fundamentalists, New Atheists left the impression that theistic religion makes for an especially irrational and thus irresponsible, dangerous culture.
The Rising Price of Environmental Inaction
Climate change is at the center of everything.
‘A slap in the face’: our expert panel on Australia’s 2035 emissions target
Friday 19 September 2025
Six experts respond to Labor’s plans for agriculture, resources, the built environment, industry, transport and energy. What did it get right and what more needs to be done?
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A smart productivity play: Stop subsidising loss-making native forest logging
Thursday 18 September 2025
On 7 September 2025, NSW set the proposed 476,000-hectare boundary for the Great Koala National Park and halted native-forest logging within it (plantation harvesting continues), with formal gazettal slated for 2026.
From batteries to EV chargers, Australia and NZ need these 3 fixes to hit net-zero at less cost
Wednesday 17 September 2025
New figures show Australians bought a record 85,000 home batteries in the first half of 2025. That’s almost three times more than the year before, and nearly fivefold growth since 2022.
Australia’s national climate risk assessment
Tuesday 16 September 2025
The report provides a synthesis of key findings from Australia’s first national climate risk assessment. It provides an assessment of risk across 8 key systems and 11 regions, prioritising key risks both within each system and across systems.
Keep electric car tax cut, remove pollution instead
Monday 15 September 2025
Extending a tax cut for electric cars until 2035 could put another 1.5 million motorists behind the wheel of a low-emissions vehicle and significantly cut transport pollution, a study has found
4,700 Gigatons of Methane: A Climate Warning From the Jurassic
Sunday 14 September 2025
New research shows how ancient methane bursts destabilized Earth’s climate, with lessons for our future
Saturday 13 September 2025
What can we learn from the Victorian hype around electricity?
Individual emitters triggered otherwise ‘impossible’ heatwaves: study
Friday 12 September 2025
Emissions from the 180 biggest carbon polluters directly contributed half of the total increase in heatwave intensity between the late 1800s and this century, a new study found.
Climate action can feel slow – but the fastest energy leap in history has begun
Thursday 11 September 2025
It’s increasingly common to hear from experts and the general public that the global shift away from fossil fuels is glacially slow, or even nonexistent.
Victorian Treaty bill hailed as a once-in-a-century milestone
Wednesday 10 September 2025
The introduction of a Treaty bill into the Victorian Parliament has been welcomed as a proud and historic moment, with Traditional Owners describing it as a practical mechanism that will allow First Peoples to make decisions about their own lives.
Tuesday 9 September 2025
This month, the Australian government will release its emissions-reduction target for 2035, likely to be between 65% and 75%. A 70% cut would mean reducing Australia’s emissions from about 440 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent down to 132 million tonnes.
Satellites confirm 1990s sea-level predictions were shockingly accurate
Monday 8 September 2025
Satellite data reveals sea-level rise has unfolded almost exactly as predicted by 1990s climate models, with one key underestimation: melting ice sheets. Researchers stress the importance of refining local projections as seas continue to rise faster than before.
What “Hamilton” Taught Me About How Young Children Learn
Sunday 7 September 2025
My kids fell in love with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical and gained an education along the way
The Dangers of Outsourcing Your Thinking
Saturday 6 September 2025
Letting AI, Celebrities, and Experts Decide for You Has a Hidden Price
Friday 5 September 2025
As powerful forces push back against green forces, it is little surprise that many of us feel dismay. Climate scientists do, too. But together we can take action to challenge the prevailing apathy
Military experts warn of climate wars
Thursday 4 September 2025
“Accelerating climate disruption is the greatest threat to the human future: our safety and well-being, our homes and communities, and how and where we live and work,” a group of leading Australian military and security experts says.
Nature delivers $510b bounty but needs more resources
Wednesday 3 September 2025
Australia’s natural environment contributes more than $510 billion to the nation’s bottom line every year, a report as found, making it as valuable as the finance and mining sectors combined.
80 years since the end of World War II, a dangerous legacy lingers in the Pacific
Tuesday 2 September 2025
On September 2, 1945, the second world war ended when Japan officially surrendered. Today, on the 80th anniversary, the physical legacy of the conflict remains etched into land and sea.
Scientists uncover wildfire paradox that’s putting 440 million people in danger
Monday 1 September 2025
Total burned area declined in past two decades while human impacts worsened.
The climate case for planting trees has been overhyped — but it’s not too late to fix it
Friday 29 August 2025
The climate benefits of planting trees may have been greatly overestimated, but swift action could ensure reforestation meets its potential to curb dangerous emissions, new research has found.
Deforestation has killed half a million people in past 20 years, study finds
Thursday 28 August 2025
Localised rises in temperature caused by land clearance cause 28,330 heat-related deaths a year, researchers find
We’re still not measuring our reliance on nature as we rush to boost productivity
Wednesday 27 August 2025
At last week’s high-profile Economic Reform Roundtable, natural capital was conspicuously absent.
What is happening with Australia’s emissions? Electricity is improving. Transport is not
Tuesday 26 August 2025
According to latest government figures, heat-trapping pollution dropped by 1.4% in the year to March
Australia’s amount of plastic waste surges as recycling rates fail to improve
Monday 25 August 2025
Australians produced 3.2m tonnes of plastic waste in 2023-24, up from 3m tonnes the previous year
The Authoritarian Art of Cultural Control
Sunday 24 August 2025
From Mussolini to Trump
This is the part of parenting no one warned me about
Saturday 23 August 2025
This is the part of parenting no one warned me about. There’s plenty of advice for parents, but what no one tells you is how devastating it is when your kids leave the family home.
Saving the giants of the Australian forest
Friday 22 August 2025
Mountain ash forests are predicted to lose a quarter of their trees by 2080, releasing over 100 million tonnes of stored carbon into the atmosphere. But there is a way to limit further loss
‘Green Islam’: how Muslims are powering environmental action across the world
Thursday 21 August 2025
As the world grapples with myriad environmental problems, a growing number of studies shows the role of religion is key.
‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction?
Wednesday 20 August 2025
Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Imagine the weight of three Sydney Harbour Bridges. Between 2022 and 2023, product manufacturers were responsible for 540,000 tonnes (or three Sydney Harbour Bridges) of soft plastic packaging in Australia. Even worse, only 6% was recovered for recycling.
Here are four ways the Treasurer’s roundtable could deliver for climate
Monday 18 August 2025
We’ve seen a lot of ideas for the upcoming Treasurer’s Economic Reform Roundtable, but not many on our climate challenge. Here’s four ideas the roundtable should consider.
The Final Stage of Climate Grief
Sunday 17 August 2025
Turning acceptance into preparation for the decades ahead.
Saturday 16 August 2025
Celebrated film critic David Stratton has died at the age of 85. He leaves an indelible mark on Australian film culture, and Australian film culture left an indelible mark on him.
Australia, why are you still obsessed with freeways – when they’re driving us away from net zero?
Friday 15 August 2025
From Melbourne’s proposed Outer Metropolitan Ring Road to Sydney’s recently completed Westconnex, Australia’s addiction to mega roads continues despite the spectre of climate change.
Most people in regions support renewables, but the window to seal the deal is closing fast
Thursday 14 August 2025
A new study shows 70% of people in REZs back a shift to renewables. That’s a strong base – but highly conditional. Without action now, that goodwill could evaporate.
Wednesday 13 August 2025
Sources say delayed risk assessment includes modelling of effects of climate crisis in ways that have been little discussed in political debate so far
70 years of data show extreme heat is already wiping out tropical bird populations
Tuesday 12 August 2025
Human-driven climate change threatens many species, including birds. Most studies on this topic focus on long-term climate trends, such as gradual rises in average temperatures or shifts in rainfall patterns. But extreme weather events are becoming more common and intense, so they warrant further attention.
Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds
Monday 11 August 2025
Prof Miles Richardson says people risk ‘extinction of experience’ in the natural world without new policies
The Single Greatest Way to Lower Your Carbon Footprint
Sunday 10 August 2025
It’s something we do every day. Climate change is no longer a distant threat — it’s already here.
What Happens When Cheap Weapons Revolutionize War?
Saturday 9 August 2025
What drones and longbows may have in common
AI is driving down the price of knowledge – universities have to rethink what they offer
Friday 8 August 2025
For a long time, universities worked off a simple idea: knowledge was scarce. You paid for tuition, showed up to lectures, completed assignments and eventually earned a credential.
The dissident award-winning artist keeping a close watch on China
Wednesday 7 August 2025
In an upstairs room of a Collingwood gallery hangs a line of colourful prints on a wall. It’s only when you look closely that you see small areas of damage, evidence of their role in a troubled recent past.
Forget a social media ban. If tech companies won’t stop targeting teens like me, block them
Wednesday 6 August 2025
At primary school, there was always one weird kid passing around an iPad open to an R-rated website, game or fan-fiction.
World in $1.5tn ‘plastics crisis’ hitting health from infancy to old age, report warns
Tuesday 5 August 2025
Plastic production has increased more than 200 times since 1950 and hits health at every stage from extraction to disposal, says review in the Lancet
We’re not minimising the cost of the net zero transition. These reforms will help
Monday 4 August 2025
Getting our response to climate change right will be crucial to getting Australia back on the path to productivity growth.
In the current climate, the Coalition looks cooked
Sunday 3 August 2025
The Coalition is starting to look like the Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s immortal skit.
Climate costs missing from productivity roundtable, says Steggall
Saturday 2 August 2025
Zali Steggall warns that the costs of climate change must be a focus at the government’s productivity roundtable, with the issue already costing billions. She says a levy on fossil fuel exports could help fund climate disaster prevention.
5 reasons why wind farms are costing more in Australia – and what to do about it
Friday 1 August 2025
Building a solar farm in Australia is getting about 8% cheaper each year as panel prices fall and technology improves, according to an official new report. Battery storage costs are falling even more sharply, dropping 20% over the past year alone.
PECAN – What’s Up? Issue #32 – August 2025
Thursday 31 July 2025
The Port Phillip Emergency Climate Action Network (PECAN.ORG.AU) is an alliance of local environmental groups who aim to create and sustain a strong climate action movement in Port Phillip to address the climate crisis. They are doing good in the world. Have a look at their latest newsletter.
We face daunting global challenges. Here are eight reasons to be hopeful
Wednesday 30 July 2025
Although the trends can be hard to perceive, we are making incredible progress on global poverty, health, longevity and climate change
Warmer with a chance of ice: hailstorms could hit Australian cities harder
Tuesday 29 July 2025
Climate change might cause hailstorms to become more damaging in some Australian cities, a study on future hail trends published today has found. This includes the capital cities of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.
Bunnings makes a play in ‘hyper-competitive’ solar, battery market
Monday 28 July 2025
For the first time, battery sales in Australia have surpassed sales of solar panels. Now retail giant Bunnings wants a piece of the action.
Friday 25 July 2025
The world’s highest court says countries are legally obliged to prevent harms caused by climate change, in a ruling that repudiates Australia’s claims it is not legally responsible for emissions from our fossil fuel exports.
Top UN court singles out fossil fuels as part of states’ climate duty
Thursday 24 July 2025
Landmark opinion says those that fail to prevent climate harm could be liable for compensation and restitution
Scientists just solved the mystery of the missing ocean plastic—now we’re all in trouble
Wednesday 23 July 2025
Scientists have now confirmed that the most abundant form of plastic in the Atlantic is in the form of nanoplastics, smaller than a micrometer. These particles are everywhere: in rain, rivers, and even the air. They may already be infiltrating entire ecosystems, including the human brain, and researchers say prevention—not cleanup—is our only hope.
Australia’s demand for power has surged to new heights — and this is just the start
Tuesday 22 July 2025
Australian power demand rose relentlessly until 2008, when it stopped growing. That record has finally been eclipsed, and experts say it is a sign of things to come.
18x more floods, 105% bigger storms — all from a single clear-cut
Monday 21 July 2025
Clear-cutting forests doesn’t just raise flood risk — it can supercharge it. UBC researchers found that in certain watersheds, floods became up to 18 times more frequent and over twice as severe after clear-cutting, with these effects lasting more than four decades.
Even Ken Henry’s best ideas can’t fix a system addicted to growth
Friday 18 July 2025
“Growth for growth’s sake is the ideology of the cancer cell.” – Edward Abbey
Torres Strait leaders lost their landmark case. How can governments be held to account on climate?
Thursday 17 July 2025
Experts and advocates say it’s time for the law to change after judge says matters based on climate policy cannot be decided by courts
Wednesday 16 July 2025
Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still unclear, and among the biggest questions in climate science today. Our new study reveals that reductions in air pollution – particularly in China and east Asia – are a key reason for this faster warming.
Too late? Too slow? Too hot? Is climate progress really stalling?
Tuesday 15 July 2025
Optimists love solar’s incredible run, while pessimists point out it still only provides 1% of primary energy. But an accelerating energy transition is possible, and it is happening.
What’s happened to Australia’s green hydrogen dream? Here are 5 reasons the industry has floundered
Monday 14 July 2025
As the world looks for ways to tackle climate change, Australia has invested heavily in green hydrogen.
Airplanes Do Not, In Fact, Do It Better
Sunday 13 July 2025
Trump could not be more wrong about high-speed rail
Solar is no longer alternative energy—it’s the new default
Friday 11 July 2025
Around the globe, solar power is scaling up at a breakneck pace, reshaping energy systems, economies, and even geopolitics.
Thursday 10 July 2025
Green hydrogen is touted by some as the future – a way for Australia to slowly replace its reliance on fossil fuel exports. The energy-dense gas has the potential to reduce emissions in sectors challenging to decarbonise, such as steelmaking and fertiliser manufacturing.
Wednesday 9 July 2025
Debate on how to generate energy ‘important but misses the point’, analyst says, when you can get such savings by using solar, batteries and efficient appliances
We don’t need deep-sea mining, or its environmental harms. Here’s why
Tuesday 8 July 2025
Deep-sea mining promises critical minerals for the energy transition without the problems of mining on land. It also promises to bring wealth to developing nations. But the evidence suggests these promises are false, and mining would harm the environment.
‘Something’s happened’: Australians under 50 developing cancer at ‘alarming’ rates
Monday 7 July 2025
Australians aged in their 30s and 40s are experiencing unprecedented and in some cases world-leading rates of 10 different types of cancer — and scientists are desperate to understand why.
Major heater manufacturer Seeley International blames gas policy for Australian factory shutdown
Saturday 5 July 2025
More than 100 people will lose their jobs in Albury’s Seeley International closure. The manufacturing company has blamed an aggressive move to phase out gas as a key reason behind the closure. Regional workers will be offered jobs interstate.
Explainer: Do international carbon credits fight climate change?
Friday 4 July 2025
The European Commission has proposed an EU climate target for 2040 that allows countries to count carbon credits bought from developing nations towards the EU goal for the first time. Here’s what that means, and why the EU move on Wednesday faced criticism from campaigners and some scientists.
Droughts worldwide pushing tens of millions towards starvation, says report
Thursday 3 July 2025
Water shortages hitting crops, energy and health as crisis gathers pace amid climate breakdown
Farming within Earth’s limits is still possible – but it will take a Herculean effort
Tuesday 2 July 2025
The way we currently produce and consume food takes a big toll on the environment.
Cities are heating up the planet – how they can do more to fight climate change
Tuesday 1 July 2025
Cities have a central role to play tackling climate change. They contribute 67–72% of the greenhouse gas emissions which are heating up the planet.
Earth is trapping much more heat than climate models forecast – and the rate has doubled in 20 years
Monday 30 June 2025
How do you measure climate change? One way is by recording temperatures in different places over a long period of time. While this works well, natural variation can make it harder to see longer-term trends.
Sunday 29 June 2025
A radical new idea about the evolution of language
Threat of new global energy crisis makes it more urgent than ever to electrify everything
Friday 27 June 2025
As tensions escalate in the Middle East, there are various ways Australia can insulate itself from global energy price spikes.
Ugly endangered animals ignored as ‘cute’ bias harms conservation efforts
Thursday 26 June 2025
While there are plenty of conservation efforts and community love for cute marsupials like the western ringtail possum, researchers say that pretty privilege is threatening the existence of blood suckers and web weavers.
‘Extinction crisis’ could see 500 bird species vanish within a century
Wednesday 25 June 2025
Researchers say urgent conservation efforts will be needed to mitigate the ‘shocking statistic’ that threatens to unravel ecosystems
AI tools vary in their environmental impact as energy demands grow
Tuesday 24 June 2025
Generative AI systems like chatbots require vastly different amounts of energy to run, with the largest models emitting significantly more carbon despite offering limited gains in accuracy, new research shows.
Sunday 22 June 2025
We trust our words to explain everything.
Watch this 30 minute video.
It may inspire you to go to this EVENT on Sunday 22 June.
Thursday 19 June 2025
Optus could face a $100 million penalty after admitting to unconscionable conduct that saw vulnerable and largely First Nations customers in remote areas pressured into buying phone products they neither needed nor could afford.
New research shows native forest logging industry going up in smoke
Wednesday 18 June 2025
New research published in the leading international journal Nature Communications has added to the growing evidence that native forest logging in Australia is exacerbating wildfire risks.
The historic High Seas Treaty is almost reality. Here’s what it would mean for ocean conservation
Tuesday 17 June 2025
The high seas are set to gain a greater level of protection when a long-sought after treaty finally enters into force.
Environmentalists worry as Labor seeks consensus on new federal nature laws
Monday 16 June 2925
Environment minister Murray Watt is restarting the process after the government shelved earlier proposed reforms
The AI Derailment: How Artificial Intelligence Could Threaten the Climate Transition
Saturday 14 June 2025
The Promise (and threat) of an AI ‘Climate Solution’
Collaboration can unlock Australia’s energy transition without sacrificing natural capital
Friday 13 June 2025
Australia can reach net-zero emissions and still protect its natural treasures but only if everyone works together. New research from Princeton and The University of Queensland shows that the country can build the massive amount of renewable energy infrastructure needed by 2060 without sacrificing biodiversity, agriculture, or Indigenous land rights. But the path is delicate: if stakeholders clash instead of collaborate, the result could be soaring costs and a devastating shortfall in clean energy.
People Power vs. Military Force
Thursday 12 June 2025
The first video below happened in 1970 when the OHIO governor called in the National Guard. The second video is Graham Nash (in 1990) explaining how Neil Young wrote the song OHIO. Trump is a dictator in waiting.
In 1970 at Kent State University, National Guard troops shot and killed four unarmed student protesters during a demonstration against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.
Nature is Chaotic. Math Helps.
Tuesday 10 June 2025
Nature is complex, unpredictable, sometimes even chaotic. Each ecosystem is its own world, a web of interactions within and among species and their environments.
Fear of big battery fires is experiencing its own kind of thermal runaway. Is it justified?
Monday 9 June 2025
In Australia, community opposition to big batteries due to fire risk is developing a sort of thermal runaway of its own – self-sustaining and difficult to extinguish.
Sea-questration: Can We Engineer Oceans to Remove Carbon?
Sunday 8 June 2025
Researchers and start-ups are proposing novel ways to lock carbon away in the oceans. But do the risks outweigh the rewards?
Exhale Bionic Chandelier by Julian Melchiorri
Saturday 7 June 2025
As the V&A’s first Engineer in Residence, Julian Melchiorri was interested in exploring how the latest advances in biotechnology and engineering could be applied to everyday objects to improve the quality of our lives. Taking inspiration from the Museum’s Art Nouveau and Islamic art collections, Melchiorri created Exhale, the world’s first bionic chandelier, which now sits in the new Members’ Reception of the V&A. Formed of modular leaves containing microorganisms, this living and breathing chandelier removes carbon dioxide from the air and releases oxygen.
Marine heatwave found to have engulfed area of ocean five times the size of Australia
Friday 6 June 2025
World Meteorological Organization report says record heat in 2024 was driven by climate crisis and intersected with extreme weather events
The new Parliament can secure a sustainable future for Australian homes. Here’s how.
Thursday 5 June 2025
Alana West Electrification and improved energy efficiency save households money, reduce government spending on healthcare, and make communities more resilient.
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
Wednesday 4 June 2025
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
Australia’s latest emissions data reveal we still have a giant fossil fuel problem
Tuesday 3 June 2025
According to Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, the latest emissions data show “we are on track to reach our 2030 targets” under the Paris Agreement. In 2024, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were “27% below 2005 levels”. That’s great news, right?
These 5 roadblocks are standing in the way of energy-efficient homes
Monday 2 June 2025
We all want homes that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, without breaking the bank. However, Australian homes built before 2003 have a low average energy rating of 1.8 stars out of 10. This means they’re often uncomfortable to live in and expensive to run.
Saturday 31 May 2025
Today’s 54 Minute Podcast on science has been broadcast by Robyn Williams since 1975.
Robyn Williams has been the presenter of “The Science Show” on ABC Radio National since its inception on August 30, 1975 . As of May 2025, he has hosted the program for nearly 50 years, making it one of the longest-running radio shows in Australia and the world .
Williams’ enduring tenure has been marked by his commitment to making science accessible and engaging to the public. His contributions have significantly advanced public knowledge and understanding of science in Australia .
Does planting trees really help cool the planet?
Friday 30 May 2025
Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won’t cancel out human-generated warming.
No one committed to Paris goals can seriously argue Woodside’s LNG project should operate until 2070
Thursday 29 May 2025
Forty-year extension of North West Shelf gas project granted by environment minister Murray Watt will result in huge greenhouse gas emissions, putting the already degraded Indigenous rock art at risk
Planet’s darkening oceans pose threat to marine life, scientists say
Wednesday 28 May 2025
Band of water where marine life can survive has reduced in more than a fifth of global ocean between 2003 and 2022
Flood, drought, algae: extreme signals of a changing climate
Tuesday 27 May 2025
There is a paradox at the heart of our experience of extreme weather in Australia, and very likely everywhere in the world, which is making it harder than it should be to understand underlying changes taking place here and globally over many years.
Antarctica has its own ‘shield’ against warm water – but this could now be under threat
Monday 26 May 2025
A little-known ocean current surrounds Antarctica, shielding it from warm water further north. But our new research shows Antarctica’s melting ice is disrupting this current, putting the continent’s last line of defence at risk.
Sunday 25 May 2025
Your Brain Was Never Supposed to Read.
How a man-made invention rewired human cognition.
We bear the brunt of the climate crisis. A Pacific Cop could help shape the global response
Friday 23 May 2925
Australia should also make moves to address the climate impact of its fossil fuel production and exports
Thousands of animal species threatened by climate change
Thursday 22 May 2025
A novel analysis suggests more than 3,500 animal species are threatened by climate change and also sheds light on huge gaps in fully understanding the risk to the animal kingdom.
Can Murray Watt fix Australia’s broken nature laws? First stop, Western Australia
Wednesday 21 May 2025
New federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is in Western Australia this week to reboot nature law reform. Reform stalled in the Senate last term, following stiff opposition from the state’s Labor government and mining sector.
Climate scientists are trusted globally, just not as much as other scientists – here’s why
Tuesday 20 May 2025
Societies increasingly rely on scientists to guide decisions in times of uncertainty, from pandemic outbreaks to the rise of artificial intelligence. Addressing climate change is no different.
Why is southern Australia in drought – and when will it end?
Monday 19 May 2025
Swathes of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia are in the grip of drought as they experience some of the lowest rainfall totals on record.
Confessions of a Stupid Genius
Surviving the toxic cult of IQ
Pierz Newton-John
Sunday 18 May 2025
Saturday 17 May 2025
Labor now have a huge majority in the House of Representatives. They have a mandate to be BRAVE. But a strong opposition is crucial to hold Labor accountable to the people who voted them in. The Liberals cannot do this when they have VERY CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS. They must CHANGE their POLICIES and BELIEFS to match those of the people who VOTE. They could start with their name of LIBERALS. They are CONSERVATIVES, not LIBERALS.
What behavioral strategies motivate environmental action?
Friday 16 May 2025
A collaborative study tested 17 strategies in an ‘intervention tournament.’ Interventions targeting future thinking, such as writing a letter for a child to read in the future, are the most effective ways to motivate climate action.
New global model shows how to bring environmental pressures back to 2015 levels by 2050
Thursday 15 May 2025
Targeted interventions across emissions, diets, food waste, and water and nitrogen efficiency could halt further degradation
Wednesday 14 May
Australia’s new environment minister, Murray Watt, is reported to be a fixer. That’s good, because there’s a lot to fix.
EPBC Act: What’s changing – and why it matters for renewable energy projects
Tuesday 13 May 2925
Controversial new changes to the federal Environment Protection & Biodiversity Act could have important consequences for renewables.
How to reduce global CO2 emissions from industry
Monday 12 May 2025
Global emissions of carbon dioxide from industry can be reduced by five per cent. But that requires companies and policy makers to take a holistic approach to energy efficiency and energy management and not solely focus on technological development.
The AFL has a big issue with CONCUSSION. They would do well to read how the rules of soccer evolved to see how it became the game it is now.
The Brutal Origins of the Beautiful Game
How football went from being “a bloody and murthering practice” to a global sensation
By George Dillard
Sunday 11 May 2025
New study tracks air pollution and CO2 emissions across thousands of cities worldwide
Friday 9 May 2025
In a sweeping new study of more than 13,000 urban areas worldwide, researchers have mapped air pollution levels and carbon dioxide emissions, providing comprehensive global analysis of urban environmental quality.
The world’s wealthiest 10% caused two thirds of global warming since 1990
Thursday 8 May 2025
Wealthy individuals have a higher carbon footprint. A new study quantifies the climate outcomes of these inequalities. It finds that the world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two thirds of observed global warming since 1990 and the resulting increases in climate extremes such as heatwaves and droughts.
Labor’s next three years – in four key climate and energy numbers
Wednesday 7 May 2025
Labor is entering its second term with climate and energy policies we can track with great accuracy and high frequency – here are some numbers to keep an eye on.
5 huge climate opportunities await the next parliament – and it has the numbers to deliver
Tuesday 6 May 2025
Australians have returned an expanded Labor Party to government alongside a suite of climate-progressive independents. Meanwhile, the Coalition – which promoted nuclear energy and a slower renewables transition – suffered a historic defeat.
Australia lays out red carpet for rapid green energy transition. Can Labor seize the moment?
Monday 5 May 2025
Australia has said no to Trumpism, no to nuclear and no to a vision of a country in perpetual fear. A triumphant Labor government must now rise to the occasion.
Never look a “gift horse” in the mouth.
Sunday 4 May 2025
There’s no such thing as a free lunch… or a free chatbot
Saturday 3 May 2025
Trump’s first 100 days bring sweeping rollbacks to climate protections and environmental oversight
2 May 2025
President Donald Trump has issued dozens of executive orders in his first 100 days, targeting climate policy, energy regulation, and environmental science across the federal government.
What have Labor and the Coalition committed for the environment?
Thursday 1 May 2025
With Australia in the grip of what many consider a biodiversity crisis, here’s what the major parties have promised when it comes to nature laws and the environment.
China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate
Wednesday 30 Aoril 2025
In 2023, China increased its deployment of solar and wind energy three-fold. This trend accelerated in 2024, with China installing nearly 65% of the world’s new low emission energy electricity generation.
The Coalition denies emissions will rise if it wins the election. What do the facts say?
Tuesday 29 April 2025
We break down the major parties’ climate claims, counter-claims and policies – and find out what the experts say
Where do the major parties stand on climate? Turns out they’re worlds apart
Monday 28 April 2025
As the election campaign draws to a close, it’s safe to say both major parties have been quiet on climate change. While Labor policies have made some progress to decarbonise, the Coalition threatens to scrap or weaken them.
The dangers of eating pumpkin with pigeon!
Sunday 27 April 2025
How do false beliefs arise and become embedded in a culture? Len Fisher has created a computer program to analyse strange beliefs in order to test them and find out where they come from. What has he found?
26 April 2025
Scientists at the Institute for Agroecology at UVM, along with international co-authors, have published a paper outlining Ecuador’s successes in legally championing the Rights of Nature.
Monash – The Forgotten ANZAC
Friday 25 April 2025
Thursday 24 April 2025
Watch the Macnamara Election Forum recording from Tuesday 22 April. The only local forum with Josh Burns, Sonya Semmens and Benson Saulo.
Wednesday 23 April 2025
In a warehouse somewhere near the border of Victoria and NSW sits a hulking machine built to fight the climate crisis.
The Trump administration is sabotaging your scientific data
Tuesday 22 April 2025
Burying our heads in the sand won’t stop the climate crisis or pandemics. We’re taking action to preserve government tools
We’re at a turning point in world history but our leaders are distracted
Monday 21 April
The world is in freefall while Australia heads into another small, dreary cost-of-living election
Sunday 20 April 2025
Electric vehicles (EVs) are quickly becoming a significant part of our transition to sustainable transport. Learn the facts about EVs and use them to help reduce the spread of misinformation.
Physics Reveals the Optimal Roof Ratios for Home Energy Efficiency
Friday 18 April 2025
Even ancient builders knew how to maximize energy efficiency through rooflines.
The real cost of living fix is renewables, not nuclear
Thursday 17 April 2025
Politicians know what brings down household bills. But the Coalition isn’t talking about it.
Wednesday 16 April 2025
Climate crisis has tripled length of deadly ocean heatwaves, study finds
Tuesday 15 April 2025
Hotter seas supercharge storms and destroy critical ecosystems such as kelp forests and coral reefs
Coalition’s nuclear power pitch falling flat with some voters, Vote Compass data suggests
Monday 14 April 2025
The Coalition’s pitch for nuclear power in Australia appears to be struggling for support among some key voters, as the nation prepares to vote on its energy future.
Why resurrect the dire wolf when existing animals are facing extinction?
Sunday 13 April 2025
It’s not as sensational as recreating long-dead species, but conserving modern-day fauna is far more pressing
Saturday 12 April 2025
‘Flow’ is about the importance of recognizing ourselves through the other
Decarbonization improves energy security for most countries
Friday 11 April 2025
Researchers analyzed trade-related risks to energy security across 1,092 scenarios for cutting carbon emissions by 2060. They found that swapping out dependence on imported fossil fuels for increased dependence on critical minerals for clean energy would improve security for most nations — including the U.S., if it cultivates new trade partners.
Thursday 10 April 2025
Going nuclear will cost ‘real dollars for farmers, real dollars for country towns and real blue-collar jobs’, Clean Energy Council says
Campaign 2025- the environment and the election – podcast
Wednesday 9 April 2025
Australia’s environment laws are not fit for purpose. That’s the consensus among campaigners, scientists, business and government. So, why has it been so difficult to update the legislation? And will we see reform in the next parliament?
Greens’ $29 billion free childcare policy welcomed by Indigenous children’s peak body
Tuesday 8 April 2025
An Australian Greens plan for universal free childhood education and care has been welcomed by the peak body for Indigenous children
Australia is in an extinction crisis – why isn’t it an issue at this election?
Monday 7 April 2025
Some of the country’s most loved native species, including the koala and the hairy-nosed wombat, are on the brink. Is this their last chance at survival?
Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer
Friday 4 April 2025
Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure
Thursday 3 April 2025
If you go walking in the wild, you might expect that what you’re seeing is natural. All around you are trees, shrubs and grasses growing in their natural habitat.
Wednesday 2 April 2025
The damage climate change will inflict on the world’s economy is likely to have been massively underestimated, according to new research by my colleagues and I which accounts for the full global reach of extreme weather and its aftermath.
Hosting the UN climate summit is far from ‘madness’ – here’s how Australia stands to benefit
Tuesday 1 April 2025
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would withdraw Australia’s bid to co-host next year’s global climate summit if the Coalition wins the federal election.
Microplastics: a quick beginner’s guide
Momday 31 March 2025
Quiet dignity + the demon of self-doubt
How Many More ‘Unprecedented’ Disasters Before We Admit This Is The New ‘Normal’?
Sunday 30 March 2025
Cyclone Alfred will be soon forgotten, but the climate warnings shouldn’t
Saturday 29 March 2025
Earth has lost more than ‘4000 Sydney Harbours’ of freshwater
Friday 28 March 2025
Soil moisture has declined more than 2,600 gigatonnes since 2000, making a greater contribution to sea level rise than Greenland’s melting ice sheets.
Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans – report
Sweeping synthesis of 2,000 global studies leaves no doubt about scale of problem and role of humans, say experts
Thursday 27 March 2025
Sal Khan and Bill Gates Are Wrong About AI
Wednesday 26 March 2025
What can we learn from a century of failed ed-tech hype?
One man’s war against not knowing
Tuesday 25 March 2025
“Trumpet of Patriots exposes the truth about climate change,” proclaims the wholly-owned political party of mining magnate Clive Palmer in one of its advertisements. Except that it doesn’t.
Changing the Narrative: The Climate Crisis Needs a New Story
Monday 24 March 2025
Why compelling narratives are the key to political success.
Donald Trump Wants You to Put on a Sweater
Sunday 23 March 2025
Is Trump the new Jimmy Carter?
Greenhouse gas emissions. Winning slowly or losing the battle?
Friday 21 March 2025
With the election campaign already in full swing, what progress has Australia made towards emission reductions under Labor? Are we better informed and better prepared?
Thursday 20 March 2025
For the fourth year running, the condition of Australia’s environment has been relatively good overall. Our national environment scorecard released today gives 2024 a mark of 7.7 out of 10.
Why is the Climate Majority Silent?
Wednesday 19 March 2025
Blame pluralistic ignorance — and college students
The fading dream of insuring our future
Tuesday 18 March 2025
Early last week the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) reported around 3000 claims from property owners. That early figure more than trebled within a day, and after another day the figure had risen to over 22,000. A day later still the Insurance Business Magazine was reporting a figure of over 34,000 and rising rapidly. No-one has a clue where it will finish up.
As Trump abandons climate action, we must accept net zero won’t happen
Monday 17 March 2025
While markets and media were chasing Donald Trump’s tariff fiasco last week, something far more important was unfolding in East Palestine, Ohio.
Healthy Soil & Nutritious Food
Sunday 16 March 2025
The science behind the role of soil health in the nutrient content of food, and its contribution to human health.
Australians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier
Friday 14 March 2025
About 60% of the 1.2m cars that drove out of the showroom last year were SUVs, but road fatalities reached a 12-year high too
‘Global weirding’: climate whiplash hitting world’s biggest cities, study reveals
Thursday 13 March 2025
Swings between drought and floods striking from Dallas to Shanghai, while Madrid and Cairo are among cities whose climate has flipped
US Supreme Court clears way for climate lawsuits against Big Oil
Wednesday 12 March 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge from Republican-led states that sought to block lawsuits holding fossil fuel companies accountable for their role in climate change.
Climate action is locked in despite Trump, says former US climate envoy
Tuesday 11 March 2025
Jonathan Pershing, one of the world’s most prominent climate diplomats, believes climate action will survive Trump. The question is how many lives his delay will cost.
Is It Dark in Here or Is It Me?
Monday 10 March 2025
It is a holiday here in Melbourne. Serious stuff can wait till tomorrow. Do you feel like this sometimes? I sure do!
The ozone hole is healing, thanks to global reduction of CFCs
Saturday 8 March 2025
New results show with high statistical confidence that ozone recovery is going strong.
The fact that humans can only survive on Earth doesn’t bother Trump – and I know why
Friday 7 March 2025
He is surrounded by people who have grandiose plans and dreams beyond our planet. Vengeful nihilism is a big part of the Maga project
Soil Health — Recovery from Degradation
Thursday 6 March 2025
Once our soil becomes depleted or polluted — what can be done to bring it back to good health?
Australia’s top 15 carbon emitters: Do their CEOs care enough about the damage they are doing?
Wednesday 5 March 2025
It’s astonishing CEOs of major emitters still don’t take emissions to heart. Not just seriously, but to heart. Science and the observable reality is that climate change is a big deal.
How businesses can drive plastic reduction through storytelling
Tuesday 4 March 2025
Companies looking to curb plastic waste must do more than tweak products — they need to change the narrative around consumption and responsibility
Tree diversity increases carbon sequestration
Monday 3 March 2025
Forests planted with many different tree species have substantially higher aboveground carbon stocks and greater carbon fluxes than monocultures, shows an international study led by the University of Freiburg.
Can fruit juice ever really be healthy?
Monday 24 February 2025
Some juices can be a source of concentrated sugars in the diet. Vegetable juices generally give you a significant dose of nutrients.
New report slaps an official price tag on Australia’s precious natural assets
Friday 28 February 2025
Climate regulation through carbon storage was worth A$43.2 billion to Australia in 2020-21, according to a report released today which seeks to put a monetary value on the benefits flowing from our natural assets.
Why Trump’s bullying is going to backfire on him
Saturday 22 February 2025
‘You say you got a real solution. Well, you know, we’d all love to see the plan.’ – “Revolution 1,” The Beatles
Households are burning plastic waste as fuel for cooking and heating in slums the world over
Friday 21 February 2025
Poor people in vast city slums across the Global South are burning plastic to cook their food, warm their homes and boil water for hot showers.
Humans generate 62 million tonnes of e-waste each year. Here’s what happens when it’s recycled
Thursday 20 February 2025
In 2022, humans generated roughly 62 million tonnes of electronic waste – or e-waste. That’s enough to fill more than 1.5 million garbage trucks. And by 2030, that figure is expected to rise to 82 million tonnes.
With just 5 years to go, the world is failing on a vital deal to halt biodiversity loss
Wednesday 19 February 2025
Almost 200 nations have signed an ambitious agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss but none is on track to meet the crucial goal, our new research reveals.
Could the climate modelling be wrong or is something else going on?
Friday 14 February 2025
From Nick O’Malley, The Age Environment and Climate Editor
Lies, damned lies and Coalition energy economics: Dutton’s latest nuclear claim slammed
Thursday 13 February 2025
Blink and you might have missed it, but Peter Dutton delivered another toe-curling example of energy policy hokum on Sunday morning, as the first guest of the first episode of the ABC’s Insiders program for 2025.
Trump Has a Chance to Recreate His Greatest Success
Wednesday 12 February 2025
But I don’t recommend holding your breath
Tuesday 11 February 2025
For a long time, it seemed refugee law had little relevance to people fleeing the impacts of climate change and disasters.
‘Backsliding’: most countries to miss vital climate deadline as Cop30 nears
Monday 10 February 2025
Developing countries urge biggest polluters to act as Trump’s return to the White House heightens geopolitical turmoil
Dollars in the dust: Is outback scrub really saving the planet?
Sunday 9 February 2025
The nation has made a multi-billion dollar bet that carbon locked in desert scrub will offset emissions elsewhere, but doubters are growing from scientists in the city to the farmers on the land.
“Golden age of gas” has not paid off for Australian consumers, manufacturers
Saturday 8 February 2025
Despite the promised riches from Australia’s east coast gas export gambit, new report finds main result has been “perennial threats of shortages” and higher prices at home.
Pet Ownership Statistics 2024 – Latest Numbers and Trends
Friday 7 February 2025
Originally posted on February 2, 2023, this article has been updated on August 24, 2024 to reflect the latest research and statistics. Our editorial team has ensured you’re viewing the most current data on this topic.
Extreme weather is Australia’s new normal
Wednesday 5 February 2025
Over the last few weeks, parts of Australia have been inundated by rain, scorched by heatwaves and slammed by storms. Is this our country’s new normal?
More than $15bn a year to save threatened species
Tuesday 4 February 2025
More than $15 billion each year is needed to stop the extinction of 99 priority species, with several frogs and other creatures deemed unrecoverable due to climate change and other pervasive
Burn grasslands to maintain them: What is good for biodiversity?
Monday 3 February 2025
As grasslands get abandoned, controlled burning is discussed as a labor-saving method of keeping forests at bay. A research team found that this method results in higher biodiversity and a higher prevalence of endangered plant species in some grasslands compared to others, depending on what soils they grow on.
How Guantanamo Became a Black Hole
Sunday 2 February 2025
A history of imperialism and impunity, from Columbus to Trump
As EVs grow, questions are being asked about their climate impact
Saturday 1 February 2025
Electric vehicles (EVs) are going down in price, and up in size. But as EVs get bigger, so does the amount of resource needed to make them. An electric SUV is a less “sustainable” vehicle than a smaller car, because of its gargantuan battery.
State of the climate: Hotter and hotter, and we are blowing our budget
Friday 31 January 2025
When you do the work you would have to be an absolute nutter to conclude anything other than that the quality of life for future generations is at risk from climate change.
2025 ‘Doomsday Clock’: This is how close we are to self-annihilation, scientists say
Thursday 30 January 2025
Scientists said we haven’t made enough progress addressing existential threats.
Society is Choosing Fantasy Over Reality
Wednesday 29 January 2025
The death of critical thinking and the collapse of civilization.
3 reasons to fear humanity won’t reach net-zero emissions – and 4 reasons we might just do it
Tuesday 28 January 2025
Within hours of taking office last week, President Donald Trump made good on his pledges to wind back the United States’ climate action – including withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement.
Monday 27 January 2025
The uncanny role of luck in our lives
My Jewish Teens Shrugged Off Musk’s Nazi Salute — I Wish They Didn’t
Sunday 26 January 2025
Three generations of my family carry different scars from the same hatred
So You Want To Know More About Aboriginal History
Saturday 25 January 2025
But you’re not sure where to start
Old king coal risks leaving Australia “in the dark” as aging power plants grow unreliable
Friday 24 January 2025
New research reveals more than 60% of Australia’s remaining coal power fleet is more than 40 years old, with rapidly diminishing reliability driving outage risks.
Trump launches immediate attack on climate, renewables and EVs. How worried should we be?
Thursday 23 January 2025
Donald Trump, newly installed for his second term as president of the United States, has directed his government to begin a withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and taken aim at a wide swathe of pro-environment and clean energy policies put in place by the outgoing Biden administration.
Making aluminium uses 10% of Australia’s electricity. Will tax incentives help smelters go green?
Wednesday 22 January 2025
Aluminium is an exceptionally useful metal. Lightweight, resistant to rust and able to be turned into alloys with other metals. Small wonder it’s the second most used metal in the world after iron and demand is set to soar.
Trump and Musk have launched a new class war. In the UK, we must prepare to defend ourselves
Tuesday 21 January 2025
Across the world, societies are reverting to oligarchies. How to resist? Fight for democracy with all we’ve got
10 reasons why US president-elect Donald Trump can’t derail global climate action
Monday 20 January 2025
If you care about saving Earth from catastrophe, you might be feeling a little down about the re-election of Donald Trump as United States president. Undeniably, his return to the White House is a real setback for climate action.
Fifty Shades of Black: These Bird Feathers Are The Darkest Never Seen
Sunday 19 January 2025
Scientists studying the many shades of black have discovered how birds create one of the blackest blacks known: super-black feathers
Why Is Climate Action So Hard?
Saturday 18 January 2025
It’s even more complex than you think
Climate Hackers and Rain Kings
Friday 17 January 2025
The strange history of weather modification — and what it may mean for climate change
Climate-driven heat waves and pollution imperil health in Global South
Thursday 16 January 2025
Record global heat in 2024 fueled longer heat waves, worsening air quality and public health in regions from India to Nigeria to Brazil, where extreme weather compounded pollution and respiratory disease risks.
Great Barrier Reef fish evidence suggests shifts in major global biodiversity patterns
Wednesday 15 January 2025
Life on the Great Barrier Reef is undergoing big changes in the face of climate change and other human-caused pressures, a new study reveals.
Daytime wholesale power prices are heading to zero – isn’t that good news?
Tuesday 14 January 2025
A new low proposed for solar feed-in tariffs is bound to spark consumer outrage and concern within the industry. But where are the headlines celebrating the fact daylight power prices are headed to zero?
Monday 13 January 2025
Why are modern business tycoons like this?
Copernicus declares 2024 the hottest year on record and this is how it looked
Sunday 12 January 2025
The world has been at its hottest for the past 10 years, with 2024 now declared the official record-holder, according to data from the European Union’s main climate service released on Friday.
The Privatization of Truth: What Meta’s Decision Means for Democracy
Saturday 11 January 2025
Is the embrace of free expression paving the way for manipulation?
Global freshwater species face extinction risks as habitats deteriorate
Friday 10 January 2025
Nearly a quarter of freshwater animal species are at risk of extinction due to habitat destruction, pollution and climate pressures, according to new research.
How bots are driving the climate crisis and how we can solve it
Thursday 9 January 2025
The internet now makes up around 7.4 per cent of global emissions – with half of that made up of bots. But it’s possible to track the perpetrators of bot-related energy waste
The Death Grip of Fossil Fuels
Wednesday 8 January 2025
It’s better to burn out than fade away…until it kills you.
The Corporate Poisoning of America
Tuesday 7 January 2025
Businesses bypass regulations and reap record profits.
Building a new concrete revolution to net zero
Monday 6 January 2025
No wonder the United Nations is worried. Making one ton of cement emits nearly one ton of carbon dioxide. With an area the size of Paris being built on every week globally, construction contributes heavily to climate change. In Australia, CO2 from building is tipped to double by 2050.
5 Things Science Can’t Explain But You Can Try
Sunday 5 January 2025
Unsolved Questions That Will Keep You Awake at Night.
AGEING – Rather than fearing getting old, here’s how to embrace it
Saturday 4 January 2025
Whether you are 20 or 90, each moment of life presents an opportunity to focus on what really matters to you
In 2025, on weekends, we will have a break from Climate Change articles. If you are getting on in years, like me, listen to, or read, this article. It has some wise advice.
The myth of a green energy transition hides a troubling truth
Friday 3 January 2025
Promises of a shift to renewable energy have failed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, with global coal, oil and gas still dominating the energy mix.
2024 – a dire year for Human Survival
Thursday 2 January 2025
In 2024, humanity – as a whole – took a purposeful stride towards engineering the collapse of modern civilisation.
The Success Formula for Crackpot Ideas
Wednesday 1 January 2025
Ten years ago, I received my first crackpot email.