Environment Archives

Environment

Eastern China pinpointed as source of rogue ozone-depleting emissions

Research published by an international team today in Nature used a global network of monitoring stations to pinpoint the source of the rogue emissions. According to these data, 40-60% of the increase in emissions seen since 2013 is due to possibly illegal industrial activity in the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Hebei.

Turning methane into carbon dioxide could help us fight climate change

In a paper published today in Nature Sustainability, we propose a new technique to clean the atmosphere of the second most powerful greenhouse gas people produce: methane. The technique could restore the concentration of methane to levels found before the Industrial Revolution, and in doing so, reduce global warming by one-sixth.

How synthetic jellyfish could be used to clean up toxic marine spills

An exciting new synthetic biology research project is looking at ways to deploy ‘pseudo jellyfish’ to clean up harmful spills in oceans and waterways.

Environment

Invasive species are Australia’s number-one extinction threat

This week the world stopped and stared as the UN announced over a million species are threatened with extinction. In Australia, one threat eclipses all others.

El Niño has rapidly become stronger and stranger, according to coral records

The pattern of El Niño has changed dramatically in recent years, according to the first seasonal record distinguishing different types of El Niño events over the last 400 years.

Top tips for making your water tank mozzie proof

New research revealed unsealed and damaged rainwater tanks could expose millions of Australians to the risk of mosquito-borne infectious diseases like dengue fever. So how can you keep your tank safe?

Environment

Returning generations in the Gulf of Carpentaria

Heading home to 'Our father’s father’s country'

Environment

Why are insects dying in such numbers?

A research review of 73 existing surveys, released by the University of Sydney's Institute of Agriculture, discovered that 40 per cent of insect species will likely be in catastrophic decline within a century. So what's going on?

Environment

Australia’s microbiome on the map

Australia’s microbiome is a hidden world of bacteria, fungi and archaea. We’ve mapped what’s where. Now we want to find out what it does.

Environment

People power for the pollinators

Conservation science has often neglected cultural knowledge systems, values and approaches. A recent global study has found that people, such as Indigenous communities, are essential to conserving the pollinators that maintain and protect biodiversity, agriculture and habitat.

Environment

Past Antarctic air informs our future

Air bubbles trapped 240m under the Antarctic ice are helping us understand the impact a naturally occurring ‘air purifier’ will have on future climate change.

The pest is history! Put your knowledge to the test

Do you know your rabbits from your 'river rabbits'? What does lantana look like? Take our biocontrol quiz and put your pesty knowledge to the test!

Environment