Opinion
Read the latest opinion articles inspired by science.
The modern-day space race has led to thousands of satellites being scattered through Earth’s outer orbits. If left unchallenged, these companies risk overpopulating an already crowded space environment – potentially pushing dark skies to extinction.
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14 Apr 2022
Listen to the Albert’s lyrebird: the best performer you’ve never heard of
Mention the superb lyrebird, and you’ll probably hear comments on their uncanny mimicry of human sounds, their presence on the 10 cent coin, and their stunning tail. Far less known – but equally, if not more, impressive – is the Albert’s lyrebird.
11 Apr 2022
Extinct or just missing? The curious case of the native blue-grey mouse
Within half a century, Australia’s blue-grey mouse had seemingly disappeared, leaving behind only three scientific specimens. But is the mouse extinct, or just extremely hard to find?
5 Apr 2022
IPCC finds the world has its best chance yet to slash emissions – if it seizes the opportunity
The world has its best chance yet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly, but hard and fast cuts are needed across all sectors and nations to hold warming to safe levels, the global authority on climate change says.
5 Apr 2022
IPCC says the tools to stop catastrophic climate change are in our hands. Here’s how to use them
Humanity still has time to arrest catastrophic global warming – and has the tools to do so quickly and cheaply, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found.
23 Mar 2022
Coming of age: research shows old forests are 3 times less flammable than those just burned
As coal-fired climate change makes bushfires in Australia worse, governments are ramping up hazard-reduction burning. But new research shows the practice can actually make forests more flammable.
17 Mar 2022
Thanks to heavy rain, Australia’s environment scores a 7 out of 10. But the future remains bleak
After the devastating floods, it’s hard to imagine only two years earlier many hard-hit communities suffered extreme heat, drought and unprecedented bushfires. Yet a report, released today, shows Australia’s environment has recovered dramatically since then.
16 Mar 2022
1.7 million foxes, 300 million native animals killed every year: now we know the damage foxes wreak
Foxes kill about 300 million native mammals, birds and reptiles each year, and can be found across 80% of mainland Australia, our devastating new research published today reveals.
7 Mar 2022
The east coast rain seems endless. Where on Earth is all the water coming from?
At any one time, Earth’s atmosphere holds only about a week’s worth of rain. But rainfall and floods have devastated Australia’s eastern regions for weeks and more heavy rain is forecast. So where’s all this water coming from?
28 Feb 2022
Mass starvation, extinctions, disasters: the new IPCC report’s grim predictions, and why adaptation efforts are falling behind
Even if we manage to stop the planet warming beyond 1.5℃ this century, we will still see profound impacts to billions of people on every continent and in every sector, and the window to adapt is narrowing quickly. These are among the disturbing findings of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
28 Feb 2022
New IPCC report shows Australia is at real risk from climate change, with impacts worsening, future risks high, and wide-ranging adaptation needed
As climate change intensifies, we are now seeing cascading and compounding impacts and risks, including where extreme events coincide. These are placing even greater pressure on our ability to respond.
