Sciblogs | Environment Archives

Featured image: Pinpointing the role of climate change in every storm is impossible – and a luxury most countries can’t afford

Pinpointing the role of climate change in every storm is impossible – and a luxury most countries can’t afford - The Changing Climate

Guest Author • Sep 23, 2021 •

Friederike Otto, University of Oxford and Luke Harrington, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Tropical Storm Ida recently left a path of devastation across the US, capping a summer beset by wildfires, heatwaves and floods which broke records around the world. The inevitable question after each of these extreme weather events is the same: to what extent … Read More

Featured image: Don’t plan on orderly transitions

Don’t plan on orderly transitions - Ariadne

Robert Hickson • Sep 21, 2021 •

The nature, scale, and pace of change is central to futures work. But usually more attention is given to identifying what’s happening rather than what needs to happen. Are we living in fast times? Many futures studies focus on how fast the world is changing now. Partly that seems to be a marketing strategy – who’s going … Read More

Featured image: Understanding life in our waterways through metagenomics

Understanding life in our waterways through metagenomics - Genomics Aotearoa

Genomics Aotearoa • Sep 03, 2021 •

By Michael Hoggard and Carmen Astudillo Garcia, University of Auckland The rapid development and extraordinary cost reductions of next-generation sequencing technologies has greatly increased data on the functioning of complex microbial communities. Although relatively new, metagenomics has already dramatically influenced our understanding of the microbial tree of life and the known virosphere via the genomic traces of organisms and viruses … Read More

Featured image: Why Indigenous knowledge should be an essential part of how we govern the world’s oceans

Why Indigenous knowledge should be an essential part of how we govern the world’s oceans - The Changing Climate

Guest Author • Jun 10, 2021 •

Meg Parsons, University of Auckland and Lara Taylor, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Our moana (ocean) is in a state of unprecedented ecological crisis. Multiple, cumulative impacts include pollution, sedimentation, overfishing, drilling and climate change. All affect the health of both marine life and coastal communities. To reverse the decline and avoid reaching tipping points, we must adopt more … Read More

Featured image: The idea of ‘green growth’ is flawed. We must find ways of using and wasting less energy

The idea of ‘green growth’ is flawed. We must find ways of using and wasting less energy - The Changing Climate

Guest Author • Jun 01, 2021 •

Michael (Mike) Joy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington As countries explore ways of decarbonising their economies, the mantra of “green growth” risks trapping us in a spiral of failures. Green growth is an oxymoron. Growth requires more material extraction, which in turn requires more energy. The fundamental problem we face in trying to replace fossil … Read More

Featured image: Treated like dirt: urban soil is often overlooked as a resource

Treated like dirt: urban soil is often overlooked as a resource - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 27, 2021 •

Roisin O’Riordan, Lancaster University When you think about soil, you probably think of rolling fields of countryside. But what about urban soil? With city dwellers expected to account for 68% of the world’s population by 2050, this oft forgotten resource is increasingly important. City-based agriculture is on the rise. But urban soil is more often associated with contamination … Read More

Featured image: Demand for rare-earth metals is skyrocketing, so we’re creating a safer, cleaner way to recover them from old phones and laptops

Demand for rare-earth metals is skyrocketing, so we’re creating a safer, cleaner way to recover them from old phones and laptops - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 20, 2021 •

Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Deakin University Rare-earth metals are critical to the high-tech society we live in as an essential component of mobile phones, computers and many other everyday devices. But increasing demand and limited global supply means we must urgently find a way to recover these metals efficiently from discarded products. Rare-earth metals are currently mined or recovered via traditional e-waste … Read More

Getting to Net Zero - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Apr 12, 2021 •

We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get purchased and used by another. Regulatory measures around coal boilers … Read More

Featured image: Managing retreat: why New Zealand is drafting a new law to enable communities to move away from climate risks

Managing retreat: why New Zealand is drafting a new law to enable communities to move away from climate risks - The Changing Climate

Guest Author • Apr 07, 2021 •

Catherine Iorns, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The government’s recently announced overhaul of major environmental legislation will result in a new law focused solely on climate change adaptation. The 30-year-old Resource Management Act (RMA) was groundbreaking when it was passed in 1991 — the first in the world to be based on the concept of … Read More

Featured image: Recreation Transition: low-carbon recreation in the mountains

Recreation Transition: low-carbon recreation in the mountains - Planetary Ecology