In contrast, dung beetles are negatively affected when an ecosystem is in trouble. Stress caused by environmental disturbances can cause dung beetles in tropical forests to gain weight and do less work. Species diversity declines. As Amazon scientists, we use this hard-working, marvelous dung beetle as a way to assess the health of the largest rainforest in the world. We have studied more than 14,000 dung beetles of 98 species since 2010 in Brazil's Santarem Region, a remote part of the Amazon rainforest. This is part of our long-term project for the Sustainable Amazon Network. We studied dung beetles in order to determine the Amazon's recovery after the...

The passage of the Emissions Reduction Fund by the Senate yesterday night has allowed the federal government to take a major step in achieving Australia's target to reduce greenhouse gases emissions to 5% less than 2000 levels by 2020. The Fund for Emissions Reduction will be the centerpiece of the Coalition's Direct Action Plan. This plan will replace the Mechanism for Carbon Pricing that was repealed this July. The two major Australian parties have agreed on a national minimum target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% below the levels of 2000 by 2020. The Federal Government has adopted the Emissions Reduction Fund as its signature policy...

Gennady Pakalka, a Russian cosmonaut and commander of the crew aboard the International Space Station, has broken the record for the longest period spent in space. He has spent 803 days in space. Padalka has said that he would love to spend 1,000 days in space on a future mission. Space travel alters the body in a significant way. Padalka faces a variety of health issues, including cancer, back problems, osteoporosis, and damage to her nervous system. Big guns are a big thank you to gravity Gravity pulls us down to the Earth'sEarth's surface. To resist this pull or lift an object, our...

In 2024, nearly all countries signed the Paris Agreement as a commitment to combat climate change. The goal was to keep global temperatures below 2degC or, ideally, 1.5degC. In order to achieve this goal, each country submitted plans called Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce its contribution to climate changes. They agreed to update the plans every five years. Africa is responsible for 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Zimbabwe is responsible for less than 0.1%. All African countries have submitted plans to reduce their emissions despite this tiny contribution. In 2015, Zimbabwe pledged to reduce its emissions 33%...

One possible solution – paying a small amount for returned drink containers – has been consistently opposed by the beverage industry for many years. But for the first time our research, published in Marine Policy , has found that container deposits reduce the amount of beverage containers on the coasts of both the United States and Australia by 40%. What's more, the reduction is even more pronounced in areas of lower socio-economic status, where plastic waste is most common. Plastic not so fantastic There have been many suggestions for how to reduce marine debris. Some promote reducing plastic packaging, re-purposing plastic debris, or cleaning beaches. There has...

U.S. consumers waste a lot of food year-round - about one-third of all purchased food. That's equivalent to 1,250 calories per person per day, or US$1,500 worth of groceries for a four-person household each year, an estimate that doesn't include recent food price inflation. And when food goes bad, the land, labor, water, chemicals and energy that went into producing, processing, transporting, storing and preparing it are wasted too. Where does all that unwanted food go? Mainly underground. Food waste occupies almost 25% of landfill space nationwide. Once buried, it breaks down, generating methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Recognizing those impacts,...

This week, 65 mayors visited the Vatican in order to discuss climate change, among other issues. The visit reflects on the role that cities play in discussions, which for far too long were only held at a global or national level. Due to their necessity and nature, cities have more success in tackling climate change than national or international governments. More than half of the world's people live in cities, which consume 75% of energy and emit 80 of greenhouse gases. Cities are not only sources of problems; they can also be innovative places for solutions. While the story of climate changes is...

Bill Clinton's 1992 US presidential campaign was based on the motto "The Economy, stupid." He laid the foundation for Australian politics. Bill Clinton's 1992 US presidential campaign was built on the slogan "The economy, stupid." He laid out the basic rules of Australian politics. Turnbull is free of Abbott's baggage. Malcolm Turnbull made economics a central part of his pitch for the Liberal Party's leadership. He has not yet indicated how he would change the policies or levers that the Abbott government used in response to the slowing of China's growth and the end of Australia's mining boom. Turnbull is free of the two...

 In the period between 2016 and 2019, the number of people employed by online platforms like Deliveroo or TaskRabbit more than doubled, from 4.7% to 9.6%. This is the equivalent of about 5.5 million people. These trends accelerated even more after the Lockdown, as an en masse population began ordering goods online. Many are concerned about the rise of the platform economy. Platform technology can be used to improve the delivery of public services. Platforms could be used to transform the way citizens receive services, whether they are under municipal control or in public-private partnerships. In our study on the platform economy,...

In the last two decades, Australia's construction industry has grown significantly. The population growth has created a need for more property development, improved public transport, and better infrastructure. Construction and demolition have resulted in a significant increase in waste. In 2017, the construction and demolition industry generated 20,4 million tons of waste, including for road and railway maintenance, land excavation, and other activities. The trash generated by these activities typically includes bricks and concrete, metals, wood, plasterboard, Asphalt, rock, soil, and plasterboard. In Australia, between 2016 and 2017, over 6.7MT of this waste was disposed of in landfills. The remainder is recycled, illegally...