A future of extremes?

The world’s journalists have been jostling and vying with each other to describe and witness the stunning, but also deadly, extreme weather that has gripped the planet in recent months.

The focus has often been the tumbling of records: 2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States, the UK had its second wettest year on record and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology added extra colour to its temperature maps.

This caused quite a stir – and rightly so. In fact, it’s about time. Continue reading

Paying homage to the legendary Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior, on her first visit to New Zealand, sails in to Matauri Bay in Northland, where the original Rainbow Warrior, bombed by French secret agents in Auckland, rests on the seabed.

New Zealand’s Matauri Bay played host today to two Rainbow Warriors, the original and the current Warrior – one lying peacefully on the sea bed providing an artificial reef for sea life and the other a gleaming, eco-friendly environmental activist ship.

Captain Joel Stewart speaks onboard the Rainbow Warrior, during the protest vessel's first visit to New Zealand, as she visits Matauri Bay, Northland, January 9 2013, at the resting place of the original Rainbow Warrior, which was bombed by French secret service agents in Auckland in 1985. Ngati Kura, the guardians of the waters where the first Warrior lies, and Greenpeace crew, take part in a whakatau ceremony to welcome the ship.

The ship travelled to Matauri Bay to pay homage to the legend of the original Warrior which was bombed and sunk in Auckland Harbour in 1985. Continue reading

Australian coal: a recipe for climate disaster

The Great Barrier Reef is now under further threat from Australia's coal boom

Everything about the Galilee Basin in Australia is epic. Its name, its size and sparse beauty as well as the enormous amount of coal buried just under the soil and the scale of mining being proposed to dig it up. Just take a look at these photos to grasp the size we’re talking about. Continue reading