Climate Change Series

The paradox of peak-based ozone air pollution standards

May 20, 2016 10:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

And when she was good, she was very, very good, But when she was bad she was horrid. Henry Wadsworth Longfellows poem may have befit Houstons air around 1999, when the city briefly ranked as the New U.S. Smog...

Climate Change Series

Want to know if the Paris climate deal is working? University divestment is the litmus test

May 20, 2016 05:44 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature Business

The Paris climate agreement has been praised for sending a strong signal to the world that we are now serious about cutting greenhouse emissions. Yet despite the diplomatic acclaim, the Paris deal doesnt offer much in...

Climate Change Series

How rapid urbanisation is changing the profile of wildlife in cities

May 20, 2016 05:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural ones. Africa and Asia are urbanising faster than any other regions in the world. By 2050, 66% of the worlds population is projected to be urban. For example, Nigeria...

Climate Change Series

Are toxic algal blooms the new normal for Australia's major rivers?

May 18, 2016 08:43 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

For much of this year, up to 1,700 kilometres of the Murray River has been hit by a serious outbreak of potentially toxic blue-green algae, which has flourished in the hotter-than-average conditions. After three months,...

Climate Change Series

2016 is likely to be the world's hottest year: here's why

May 18, 2016 03:07 am UTC| Nature

Were not even halfway through the year but already you may have heard talk of 2016 being the hottest on record. But how can scientists be so sure were going to beat the previous record, set just last year? Even before...

New report on GE crops avoids simple answers -- and that's the point, study members say

May 18, 2016 00:09 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Editors note: In a new report, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have provided a broad review of available information on genetically engineered (GE) crops and their impacts on the environment and...

Climate Change Series

Why the effects of 2016 El Niño trumped climate change in the Alberta wildfires

May 17, 2016 16:15 pm UTC| Nature

In the wake of the damaging Alberta fires, there has been a lot of attention paid to what role climate change plays in wildfires. Yet 2016 is also a powerful El Niño year, which has created ideal conditions for the...