Published by

Australian Academy
of Science

Environment topics

Stormwater – helping to tackle Australia's water crisis
With reduced water supplies and a growing population, should Australians be letting stormwater go down the drain?

Sponsored by:

Australian Research Council Linkage Learned Academies Special Project Grant

Bushfires spark extensive search for answers
They can start with a momentary flicker, they can burn for months, and their effects can scar landscapes and lives for years.

Sponsored by:

Australian Research Council Linkage Learned Academies Special Project Grant

Acid test for the seas
The basic facts on ocean acidification.

Sponsored by:

Department of Climate Change

Sounding out the secrets of the sea
The increasing use of sound by humans to explore the seas has raised questions about its potential impact on marine life.

Sponsored by:

The Australian Acoustical Society

The water down under
You might not think it, but in a country as dry as Australia many people are literally walking on water.

Sponsored by:

Australian Research Council Linkage Learned Academies Special Project Grant

A quiet revolution – the science of complex systems
If you haven't heard of complex systems don't worry, you are not the only one. Scientists have been quietly puzzling over the complex interactions that define so many things in our world.

Sponsored by:

ARC Complex Open Systems Research Network

Making every drop count
Would you drink a glass of treated effluent? That question is part of a heated debate about water recycling, as people try to find solutions to the lack of water supplies brought about by climate change and a growing population.

Sponsored by:

Weeds – the real alien invaders
They’re green, they’re mean, and they cost Australia billions of dollars each year. Invasive weeds threaten the environment, agriculture, and people’s health – and the threat is growing.

Sponsored by:

Impact of global warming on biodiversity
Global warming on the scale predicted by scientists could have major consequences for Australia's biodiversity. Are we doing anything about it?

Sponsored by:

Predicting natural events
The study of thresholds and pattern dynamics may be a key to unlocking our understanding of catastrophic climate change and other types of complex systems.

Sponsored by the Sir Mark Oliphant International Frontiers of Science and Technology Conference Series, funded by the Australian Government under the International Science Linkages programme.

Population and environment – what's the connection?
The world's population is growing, and many scientists and conservationists say that the natural environment is deteriorating as a result, but the relationship between environmental problems and human population growth is complex and not fully understood.

Sponsored by the Australian Academy of Science's Population and Environment Fund.

Warmer and sicker? Global warming and human health
Continued warming of the planet could have significant implications for human health. Coping with extreme heatwaves will be just one of our concerns.

Sponsored by:

The Australian Greenhouse Office is the lead Commonwealth agency on greenhouse matters

Getting into hot water – global warming and rising sea levels
The 20th century saw the greatest increase in temperature of any century during the last thousand years, and the last decade was the warmest since records began. As the temperature rises, so does the sea level – with profound consequences for us all.

Sponsored by:

The Australian Greenhouse Office is the lead Commonwealth agency on greenhouse matters

Sponsored by:

Bogged down in the four-wheel drive debate?
Four-wheel drives are becoming more common on the nation's roads, but there are questions about their impact on road safety and the environment.

Salinity – the awakening monster from the deep
Salinity is making more and more of our land unusable and our water undrinkable.

Sponsored by:

CRC for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration

Coral bleaching – will global warming kill the reefs?
Coral reefs are sensitive to environmental change. Recently, the frequency and distribution of coral bleaching have increased, and in 2002 the Great Barrier Reef experienced its worst case of coral bleaching on record.

Sponsored by:

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Quiet please! Fighting noise pollution
Increases in the density of residential and commercial buildings, more traffic on the roads, and out-dated building regulations are all contributing to serious noise pollution in our cities.

Sponsored by the bequest of J S Anderson, FAA.

Making packaging greener – biodegradable plastics
Biodegradable plastics made with plant-based materials have been available for many years. Their high cost, however, has meant they have never replaced traditional non-degradable plastics in the mass market. A new Australian venture is producing affordable biodegradable plastics that might change all that.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Feeding the future – sustainable agriculture
With the population exceeding 6 billion and growing by about 6 million a month, the need to protect agricultural land and to increase food production has become critical. Does sustainable agriculture have the answers?

Sponsored by:

CSIRO Division of Plant Industry and the bequest of J S Anderson, FAA.

Which way ahead for hydrogen cars?
Rising petrol prices and diminishing oil supplies may drive motorists to demand alternative forms of fuel – such as hydrogen.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Carbon currency – the credits and debits of carbon emissions trading
The Kyoto Protocol is the first step towards stabilising global emissions of carbon dioxide. But what is carbon emissions trading and will it limit the enhanced greenhouse effect?

Sponsored by:

The Australian Greenhouse Office is the lead Commonwealth agency on greenhouse matters

Is Australian wildlife fair game?
Is the growing commercial use of Australian wildlife compatible with good conservation?

Sponsored by:

Conservation genetics – molecular detectives at work
The new science of conservation genetics is providing important clues in the fight against the extinction of species.

Sponsored by:

CRC for the Conservation and Management of Marsupials

Generating new ideas for meeting future energy needs
Concerns about the greenhouse effect, smog and energy security have led to increasing interest in energy sources such as hot dry rocks, wave power and hydrogen.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Sodicity – a dirty word in Australia
Soil sodicity hasn’t hit the headlines yet, but in terms of area and impact it far outweighs salinity as a problem in Australia.

Sponsored by:

CRC for Soil and Land Management the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Biomass – the growing energy resource
Energy from biomass is sparking interest amongst scientists, policy makers and growers as they search for clean, renewable energy alternatives.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Calculating the threat of tsunami
On 26 December 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale created a tsunami that led to the deaths of over 289,000 people living in coastal villages in Asia and Africa. Scientists have made important advances towards predicting tsunami by combining mathematics, geology and physics.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Integrated pest management – the good, the bad and the genetically modified
Twenty-five years ago cotton cultivation was abandoned in Western Australia's Ord River valley because of an uncontrollable infestation of two native caterpillars. Now researchers are trialling an integrated pest management strategy that could allow cotton to be grown there again.

Sponsored by:

The bitter-sweet taste of toxic substances
Household items such as bleach, disinfectant and detergent are an integral part of everyday life – and they are all potentially toxic. How can we minimise the risks they present?

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Monitoring the white death – soil salinity
New technology is being used to help monitor the extent of dryland salinity threatening large areas of Australia's agricultural zone.

Sponsored by:

Land Monitor Project the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Cleaner production – a solution to pollution?
A draft national strategy for cleaner production, produced by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, was recently available for public comment. What is cleaner production, and how can it help reduce pollution loads?

Sponsored by:

Environment Protection Authority the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Wind power gathers speed
Wind power is set to become an important means of generating electricity worldwide.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Fuelling the 21st century
Fuel cells are an efficient and low-polluting way to generate power. The Australian Technology Park in Sydney has installed Australia's first commercial fuel cell.

Sponsored by:

the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

The Southern Ocean and global climate
Research shows that the Southern Ocean is crucial to the world's climate system.

Sponsored by:

Cooperative Research Centre for the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Environment the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

El Niño – riding the climate roller coaster
It seems that El Niño and La Niña are here to stay. What are they and how do they affect Australia's climate?

Sponsored by:

Cooperative Research Centre for Southern Hemisphere Meteorology the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy

Enhanced greenhouse effect – a hot international issue
The meeting on greenhouse gas emissions held in Kyoto in December 1997 put the enhanced greenhouse effect in the spotlight.

Sponsored by:

Toxic algal blooms – a sign of rivers under stress
Toxic algal blooms pose a serious threat to Australia's already embattled waterways and are the subject of much scientific research.

Sponsored by:

Local air pollution begins at home
Local air pollution is a major health threat. It ranges in scale from cigarette smoke in a house to the photochemical smog that can cover a city.

Sponsored by:

More food, cleaner food – gene technology and plants
Gene technology, also known as genetic engineering, involves manipulating or transferring genetic material within or between organisms. It has the potential to improve agricultural yields and reduce the application of pesticides.

Sponsored by:

CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

Malaria – a growing threat
Australia is certified free of malaria by the World Health Organization, but elsewhere it is a killer. Australian researchers are currently working on a vaccine against malaria.

Sponsored by:

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Australia's threatened species
Even though many species in Australia have become extinct since European settlement, there are also success stories such as the recent propagation of the Wollemi pine.