What would happen if we cut down the Amazon rainforest?
By Sebastian Leuzinger What would happen if we cut down the entire Amazon rainforest? Could it be replaced by an equal amount of reforestation elsewhere? Removing the entire Amazon rainforest would have myriad consequences, with the most obvious ones possibly not the...
What does the “climate emergency” mean for New Zealand?
By David Hall, Raven Cretney & Sylvia Nissen By declaring a climate emergency Jacinda Ardern needs to inspire hope, not fear. There is no question that we must act, and act fast, on climate change. This week’s climate emergency declaration by the New Zealand...
What lies behind the war in Tigray?
By Asafa Jalata At the core of the current war between the Ethiopian central government and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front is the realignment of politics and the contest for political hegemony. In my view, it is about Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed allying with the...
Climate change: Why do humans instinctively reject evidence contrary to their beliefs?
By Peter Ellerton Why do humans instinctively reject evidence contrary to their beliefs? Do we understand why and how people change their mind about climate change? Is there anything we can do to engage people? These are three very significant questions. They could be...
What does Biden’s win mean for race relations, US foreign policy and the Supreme Court?
By Brian J Purnell, Morgan Marietta & Neta C. Crawford The American public has had its say and for the first time in a generation denied a sitting president a second term. President Donald Trump’s tenure lasted just four years, but in that time he dragged policy...
A red tide: What does Jacinda Ardern’s historic victory mean?
By Richard Shaw, Bronwyn Hayward, Jack Vowles, Jennifer Curtin & Lindsey Te Atu o Tu MacDonald The pre-election polls suggested it might happen. But the fact that Labour and Jacinda Ardern have provisionally won an outright majority and the mandate to govern New...
Climate change: How damaging is methane?
By Zebedee Nicholls & Tim Baxter Methane is a shorter-lived greenhouse gas – why do we average it out over 100 years? By doing so, do we risk emitting so much in the upcoming decades that we reach climate tipping points? The climate conversation is often...
How did climate change make the melting of New Zealand’s glaciers ten times more likely?
By Lauren Vargo Glaciers around the world are melting — and for the first time, we can now directly attribute annual ice loss to climate change. We analysed two years in which glaciers in New Zealand melted the most in at least four decades: 2011 and 2018. Both years...
Why does New Zealand need to focus on genome sequencing to trace the source of its new COVID-19 outbreak?
By David Welch Genetic surveillance — a technology that uses the genetic fingerprint of a virus to track its spread — is part of the public health response to New Zealand’s new COVID-19 community outbreak and could help pinpoint its source. There are now 17 cases of...Subscribe by Email
Completely spam free, opt out any time.
This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
