Environment
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‘Blood cobalt’ is disappearing from batteries – and cheaper, cleaner batteries are arriving
You might have heard the common claim that electric cars aren’t really green – that their lithium-ion batteries rely on…
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Dramatic changes in upper atmosphere are responsible for recent droughts and bushfires: new research
Over the past decade, southern Australia has suffered numerous extreme weather and climate events, such as record-breaking heatwaves, bushfires, two…
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What northern NZ’s wet and sticky summer reveals about our warming atmosphere
New Zealand’s summer has been defined by repeated bursts of intense rain, as subtropical systems have swept down over the…
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Intense heatwaves directly threaten crops and native species. Here’s what we can do
During Australia’s unprecedented heatwave in late January, air temperatures reached 50°C in inland South Australia. Days of sustained heat and…
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How deregulation made electricity more expensive, not cheaper
American families are feeling the pinch of rising electricity prices. In the past five years alone, the generation portion of…
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Cement has a climate problem — here’s how geopolymers with add-ins like cork could help fix it
Concrete is all around you – in the foundation of your home, the bridges you drive over, the sidewalks and…
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Trump has scrapped the long-standing legal basis for tackling climate emissions
Regulating climate emissions just became more difficult. US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has…
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Want to boost uptake of battery EVs? Subsidise chargers at home and work – not the vehicles
Let’s say you want to encourage more drivers to shift to battery-electric vehicles. What’s the best way to do it?…
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How Bad Bunny’s power pole dance spotlighted the colonial legacy of energy poverty
When Bad Bunny and his dancers scaled power poles during his Super Bowl performance, he wasn’t just entertaining millions. He…
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In World War II’s dog-eat-dog struggle for resources, a Greenland mine launched a new world order
On April 9, 1940, Nazi tanks stormed into Denmark. A month later, they blitzed into Belgium, Holland and France. As…
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How Indigenous ideas about non-linear time can help us navigate ecological crises
It is common to think of time as moving in only one direction – from point A, through point B,…
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4 lessons NZ should take from another summer of weather disasters
Another summer of extreme weather has destroyed and damaged homes, cut off communities and, in the most tragic cases, left…
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That e-bike you bought your teen might be an illegal electric motorbike – and the risks are real
A “health emergency”. A “total menace”. “Take them away and crush them”. E-bikes are in the news for all the…
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Polymers from earth can make cement more climate-friendly
Concrete is all around you – in the foundation of your home, the bridges you drive over, the sidewalks and…
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EPA rescinds 2009 endangerment finding, clearing way for Trump to shred more US climate rules – but serious court challenges await
In 2009 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally declared that greenhouse gas emissions, including from vehicles and industry, endanger public…
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