Posts by Nick Young
-
Climate extremes make NZ’s supply chains highly vulnerable – it’s time to rethink how we grow and ship food
Supermarket customers around New Zealand are noticing gaps in the grocery aisles that have nothing to do with the global pandemic or Ukraine war. It’s clear domestic food supply chains…
-
Oppenheimer’s warning lives on: international laws and treaties are failing to stop a new arms race
J. Robert Oppenheimer – the great nuclear physicist, “father of the atomic bomb”, and now subject of a blockbuster biopic – always despaired about the nuclear arms race triggered by…
-
Plastic pollution in some NZ lakes is comparable to northern hemisphere lakes in highly populated areas, global study finds
The level of microplastic pollution in New Zealand lakes is comparable with those in the US or Europe, despite much lower population densities, according to our global analysis of plastic pollution in freshwater lakes and reservoirs.
-
Barbie, Electric Cars, and Ken’s SUV – As a Barbie Girl in a warming world, is there a better way to the real world?
As global warming intensifies, Barbie cruises in her pink electric vehicle ride to the real world. Studies reveal that cars are parked 95% of the time and contribute significantly to the climate crisis. While Barbie shifts to a small electric vehicle, Ken still clings to a big SUV. But to be truly sustainable, we need affordable and accessible public transit.
-
Deep sea mining industry fails to get green light but remains a threat
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) negotiations have just ended with deep sea mining companies failing to get an immediate green light to start plundering the oceans. Opposition to deep sea…
-
El Niño combined with global warming means big changes for New Zealand’s weather
El Niño is officially here, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and with it comes a change from the La Niña weather patterns New Zealand has experienced for the past three years.
-
Indigenous Pacific leaders call on countries to support ban on deep sea mining
Video projections featuring civil society leaders from the Pacific region calling for a halt to deep sea mining were seen throughout the weekend in Mexico City, Mexico, Toronto, Canada, Dover, UK, and Kingston, Jamaica.
-
Barbie vs Oppenheimer: two diametrically opposed universes that remind us of two existential threats
“Barbenheimer” is probably the film event of the year. The simultaneous premieres of two Hollywood blockbusters by two cult directors: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a pink fantasy comedy and Christopher Nolan’s…
-
Defusing Disaster: Oil transfer from FSO SAFER to turn off the Ticking Time Bomb
After more than eight years and numerous false alarms, the hazardous operation to remove more than a million barrels of oil from the decaying supertanker the FSO SAFER, in the Red…
-
Why are so many climate records breaking all at once?
In the past few weeks, climate records have shattered across the globe. July 4 was the hottest global average day on record, breaking the new record set the previous day. Average sea surface temperatures have been the highest ever recorded and Antarctic sea ice extent the lowest on record.