Is Biodegradable Plastic the Answer to Consumerism and Climate Change?
Biodegradable plastic could change the future of consumerism and its impact on climate change, thinks Dr. Heon Park, a Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Canterbury. While acknowledging that petroleum-based plastic poses long-term...
Can carbon solve the carbon problem?
Biochar is an ancient technology that could become a major way to address the climate crisis. Professor Ajit Sarmah has written the book on biochar, a form of carbon that at scale could have a major impact in reducing carbon emissions. ...
Is science education failing to prepare students for the complex challenges of the world?
Sara Tolbert, University of Canterbury Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash Long-standing debates about the purpose and focus of a school science curriculum have resurfaced this week as New Zealand is refreshing its approach to science education. Some...
Are our cosmological models in need of a radical rethink?
Words by David Wiltshire, University of Canterbury; Eoin O Colgain, Atlantic Technological University; Jenny Wagner, and Shahin Sheikh-Jabbari, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences Picture by NASA Our ideas about the Universe are based on a...
Can New Zealand’s Geothermal Wells Solve Our Carbon Dilemma?
Words by David Dempsey, University of Canterbury; Karan Titus, University of Canterbury, and Rebecca Peer, University of Canterbury Photo by Federica Bisso on Unsplash We know putting carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere is bad for the climate. But should...
How can we slow the decline of our oceans’ health?
Karen Fisher, University of Auckland Photo by Tim Patch on Unsplash The rapidly declining health of New Zealand’s marine environment raises serious questions about how we care for and manage the oceans. A recent stocktake of our marine environment...
Is our best weapon against climate change buried in the depths of our fiords?
Words by Rebecca J McLeod, University of Otago and William Austin, University of St Andrews Photo by Yoann Laheurte on Unsplash Cyclone Gabrielle has highlighted forestry slash as a problematic aspect of relying on plantation forests to draw down carbon dioxide...
Can prehistoric droppings help uncover a new world of conservation?
By Jack Marshall Photo: Stella the kākāpō on Codfish Island/Whenua Hou Image: Sabine Bernert | DOC The nocturnal flightless kākāpō is something of a difficult bird. They were once rife in New Zealand, found throughout the North Island and the South. Today, the species...
Are we doing enough? Ngā Ara Whetū’s reaction to the 6th IPCC report
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash Climate change is the “bread and butter” issue of our times, as spelled out in the latest synthesis of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report. If we do not urgently address climate change, there will be much...Subscribe by Email
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