New Zealand climate experts’ advice is almost identical to the Pope’s. We have to modify our lifestyles. The earth is suffering. Excessive consumption of the earth’s resources has to stop. Or at the very least, change. Modify, says Pope Francis. A major new international report shows 2021 record-breaking greenhouse gas emissions. Despite that, international travel Read more
Symbolically and spiritually, the Jordan river is of mighty significance to many. Physically, the Lower Jordan River of today is a lot more meagre than mighty. By the time it reaches the site, where Jesus was baptised its dwindling water looks sluggish, a dull brownish green shade. Read more
For more than 13 years, Ursula Rakova has been battling to relocate her people from the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea, which are slowly being swamped by the sea. They don’t want to give up the way of life of generations before them, but they have no choice. More than 3000 people are stuck Read more
The return this month of the first cruise ship to Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour was accompanied by the sort of fanfare normally reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries: a tug boat decked out in bunting, a circling helicopter, even the mayor on hand to welcome the ship. Coming after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and Read more
Like many people in the southern hemisphere of our planet, winter 2022 is the year of rain, floods and landslips. We have all heard about global warming and seen graphs and projections of changing temperatures, but it takes a constant and sometimes torrential rain for the statistics to become a reality. But has this anything Read more
In June 2022, an EV Mercedes drove from Germany to the UK on a single charge, travelling more than 1,200km (750 miles) without needing to stop. The average petrol- or diesel-powered car would have had to refill its tank three times on the same journey, though there was a catch. The electric vehicle was a Read more
University of Otago professor James Higham, a sustainable tourism expert is calling out New Zealand’s extreme aviation emitters. Air New Zealand revealed its most frequent flyer took 230 flights in 2021. That person flew 96,121km last year alone. Frequent flyers are the cause of the problem says Massey University applied mathematics professor Robert McLachlan. He Read more
A Church-sponsored farmers’ group is promoting organic farming as an eco-friendly remedy to the food shortage caused by the climate crisis in the Korean peninsula. The Catholic Farmers Association (CFA) has developed an ‘environmental conservation-type sustainable agriculture’ and consumption method they call ‘life agriculture’, the Gwangju Catholic Peace Broadcasting Company reported. The term ‘life agriculture’ Read more
The Government is expecting the agriculture sector to subsidise the rest of the economy on climate change, so Groundswell NZ is asking for the evidence from James Shaw, says Steve Cranston, spokesman for Groundswell NZ. “Groundswell NZ has written to Climate Change Minister James Shaw to request any modelling or data he relies on, showing Read more
Vanuatu has become the first Pacific Small Island Developing State to declare it is facing a climate emergency. In a Twitter post, the leader of the opposition Ralph Regenvanu announced parliament passed a 17-point resolution declaring a climate emergency on Friday. Mr Regenvanu said under Point 1 of the resolution, “The Parliament declares that a Read more