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Each of the past 11 years has been hotter than any recorded that came before it. That’s the message from the latest World Meteorological Organization State of the Climate report, released yesterday.
Despite this stark warning, we are still alarmingly dependent on fossil fuels, and governments are lagging on net zero.
As Andrew King writes, this report should shock us into action. Our planet is not doomed, but saving it demands more than just promises and politics.
Closer to home, an annual snapshot of Australia’s environment in 2025 has delivered some patches of encouraging news, with rains in Queensland and the Northern Territory bringing a flush of green to long-dry lakes.
But as Albert Van Dijk explains, “underwater bushfires” caused by marine heatwaves and the toxic algal bloom in South Australia waters devastated marine species in 2025.
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Faith Tabalujan
Assistant Editor, Environment + Energy
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Andrew King, The University of Melbourne
The State of the Climate report paints a worrying picture of global warming. But by reducing our emissions and fossil fuel use, we can still slow it down.
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Albert Van Dijk, Australian National University; Shoshana Rapley, Australian National University; Tayla Lawrie, The University of Queensland
Good rains kept Australia’s landscapes green last year, but ecological disasters in the ocean and wildlife decline underscore the toll of climate change.
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Clare O'Toole, University of Wollongong
This means less typical presentations of ADHD – such as in women and girls, quiet inattentive adults and high-achieving students – could be overlooked.
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Duyen Vo, Monash University; Andrea Reupert, Monash University; Fiona Longmuir, Monash University; Kelly-Ann Allen, Monash University
Teachers are calling for a 35% pay rise over four years. The Victorian government has offered 17%.
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Jennifer Macklin (Downes), Monash University; Ananya Bhattacharya, Monash University
While stocking up on petrol or groceries ‘just in case’ feels sensible, it can quickly lead to shortages. But our individual choices can collectively help too.
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Jessica Genauer, UNSW Sydney
As Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan show, the US can’t win wars against insurgent tactics. So, Iran just has to survive longer than the US political will to fight.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The security expert says there’s been a ‘disturbing’ rise in Australians’ anxiety about national security over the past two years.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
With the rise of One Nation and growth of grievance politics, what Labor leaders choose to say to those alienated voters will be key.
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Julie Blamires, Auckland University of Technology
Siblings experience higher anxiety, disrupted schooling and major changes to family life. Yet they are overlooked in discussions designed to support families.
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Politics + Society
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Heather Douglas, The University of Melbourne; Allanah Colley, The University of Melbourne
For victim-survivors, court orders can help save their lives. But the system can be messy, open to abuse and the orders aren’t always enforced.
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Health + Medicine
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Chanae Ihimaera, Auckland University of Technology
Seeking a second opinion is not a sign of distrust – it’s good self-advocacy.
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Dylan A Mordaunt, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Flinders University; The University of Melbourne
Overseas experience suggests predictive tools can improve child protection, if used carefully. Should NZ reconsider its stance?
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Business + Economy
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Mirella Atherton, University of Newcastle
A multi-billion dollar industry is putting cash back in consumers’ pockets. But there’s a catch.
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Science + Technology
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Andrew Blakers, Australian National University
Every war, trade war and pandemic makes the case for renewables stronger.
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Yang Xiang, Swinburne University of Technology
Every smart device can also be a way for cyber attackers to get into your home. Some simple steps can help keep you safe.
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Kevin Veale, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Because of the way generative AI works, there is no real way to prevent false information being presented as truth – or to correct it permanently.
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Arts + Culture
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Fiona Wilkes, The University of Western Australia
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! offers less a story about the bride of Frankenstein, and more a commentary on the lesser-known, sad second life of Mary Shelley.
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Nicole Kimball, University of Newcastle
Morgan’s powers fall under two key branches of natural philosophy: the science of medicine, and the science of necromancy according to physics.
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Books + Ideas
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Heidi Norman, UNSW Sydney
Beyond the Meeting of the Waters reminds us that the campaign for justice is a long process, measured not in moments but in generations.
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Liz Evans, University of Tasmania
Two powerful, fragmented memoirs by Australian women writers: Erin Vincent’s 14 Ways of Looking and Gemma Parker’s The Mother is Restless and She Doesn’t Know Why.
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Long time coming
"I find it interesting that most of the accounts of the SA election looks only at the surge of One Nation but not at why that surge may have come about. We have only a two-party system here and we have had successive alternative parties who have mostly been conservative, and often populist. In the last 20 years many working-class voters have opted for these parties, so it's not surprising that One Nation is slotting into that field. This, coupled with the Liberal party preferencing One Nation, really does show they shot themselves in the foot. The downfall of the Liberal party in South Australia has been decades in the making. It wasn't an overnight
occurrence."
Name withheld
Who needs policies?
"It may not be wise to expect One Nation to release their policy details that are anywhere close to those well-expounded in this article. First, a coherent overall policy to manage the nation’s complex challenges may stretch far beyond the party’s logic and capability. Like any other far-right populist parties, it has run on fear and emotional manipulation. Second, it is more likely it does not see policy details as a necessity to win seats. There have been too many precedents for skipping them or – as the two major parties have often indulged themselves in – delaying releases of policy details until the eleventh hour of the election campaign to avoid
scrutiny. Third, perhaps most importantly, One Nation’s current poll rise has little, if anything, to do with policy details. There is absolutely no need to take the Bill Shorten risks."
Ang Ung 
What the CGT debate gets wrong
"One consideration lacking from discussions on capital gains tax (CGT) is housing supply. As someone who has joined the property investment market in the last five years I made the choice to build, adding two new houses to that supply. It just felt the right thing to do. CGT (and other tax incentives like negative gearing) should be restricted going forward to new builds so that investors increase housing supply. Existing housing should be left to non-investors, have no stamp duty and a requirement for owner-occupier for a set time."
Mark Stevens, St Agnes, SA
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your thoughts on our stories and each day we'll publish an edited selection.
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