How ‘citizen science’ can help save our beaches

Monitoring erosion at our beaches is crucial to formulating strategies to make the coastline more resilient, but it takes a lot of work. Now you can help while enjoying a day at the beach armed only with your mobile phone.

Understanding Melbourne’s crazily predictable weather

Melbourne’s weather is renowned for its variability, but it is still predictable, explained partly by its position on a large hot continent close to the cold Southern Ocean.

Limiting the loss of nature

With only about half the Earth’s land remaining covered by natural vegetation, a University of Queensland-led team has proposed an international goal to halt its continued destruction.

Who gives a flying fox?

Flying Foxes or Fruit Bats are fascinating native creatures but nobody welcomes them to their neighbourhood.

Protecting the last refuges of nature

Logging, land clearing and development continue to ravage Australia’s natural environments, and even supposedly protected areas are increasingly open to assault by commercial interests.

Sydney’s desalination plant proves a good plaice for fish

Australia’s fast-growing cities may come to increasingly rely on desalinated water as long term drought grips the country. New research, led by Southern Cross University, has found an unexpected benefit at the Sydney Desalination Plant as its discharge of excess salty water attracts lots of fish.

Up close and personal with White Island

While getting close to the awesome power of nature is a big draw for tourism, the eruption on White Island reminds us of the very real risks.

Better building planning can help combat bushfires

As fires ravage the east coast of Australia, a QUT expert has called for an urgent review of planning regulations which make the situation worse.

How Australia can help curb illegal fishing

Australia’s status as a trusted ‘middle power’ can help it combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Pacific waters.

More clouds could mean less rain in Australia

A giant, continent-sized cloud that dumps rain from Broome to Hobart has increased in frequency over the past 33 years, but its impact may not be what you expect.

A splash of green can banish the blues

Urban greening is emerging as a key part of the solution to some of our major health and environmental challenges.  Here are eight ways to bring a little bit of nature to our city lives.  

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

The dust and smoke blanketing our cities challenges our usual ways of thinking about bush, farm, industry, rich city and poor city divides.