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Featured Environment stories
New Zealand's newest 'Dark Sky Sanctuary' announced
The sanctuary stretches from Bennett's Bluff to the northern boundary of Mt Aspiring National Park. Audio
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Avian botulism outbreak: 40 black-backed gulls die near Timaru
29 Jan 2025Botulism looks to be the cause at Washdyke and tests will rule out any exotic disease, the Department of Conservation says.
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Fears world's largest iceberg could hit South Atlantic island
24 Jan 2025Iceberg A23a spans an area twice the size of London and has been carefully tracked by scientists since 1986. Audio
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Green hydrogen: Is it time to switch off the taxpayer tap?
21 Jan 2025Green hydrogen - which has been described by fans as the "swiss army knife" of clean energy - has enjoyed a wave of private investment and government subsidies.
Environment headlines with summaries.
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DOC cashes in on West Coast's skink 'insurance' population
20 Jan 2025Nearly a decade after almost going extinct, Aotearoa's endemic cobble skink population is making a surprising comeback.
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More flames, less insurance as New Zealand wildfire risk grows
15 Jan 2025As the death toll rises from LA's wildfires, experts say New Zealand is set to get more flammable, and make it harder for some to get insurance.
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Hoiho at risk: 'It is unthinkable that we could lose them'
14 Jan 2025The yellow-eyed penguin could become extinct within two decades, says DOC, with the number of known nests dropping by 80 percent over the past 15 years.
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Neighbours in stoush with school over tree removal
14 Jan 2025Neighbours of Wellington Girls' College say the culling of the trees will ruin the character of their suburb.
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'Sweet and sour' - NZ scientists head to Antarctica
14 Jan 2025A group of 20 scientists from New Zealand - and abroad - are about to head to the bottom of the world to study the impacts of climate change on Antarctica's Ross Sea.
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Bringing back lizards in Central Otago
9 Jan 2025Conservationists are bringing endangered skinks back to the dryland wilderness of Central Otago.
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What a rare summer La Niña could mean for Australia
The great rainmaker, La Niña, could be back for the fourth time in five years, increasing the prospect of a soaking start to 2025. Video
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Lifeguards swap beach patrol for dolphin rescue
7 Jan 2025The Bottlenose dolphin was trapped in the shallows of an estuary in Otago.
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Nature's milestones you may have missed
6 Jan 2025From cliff-scaling skinks to takahē on tramping tracks.
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How to recycle your Christmas tree
4 Jan 2025If you bought your live tree in the first flush of festive spirits, chances are it'll be looking past its use-by date by now. Here's how to get rid of it without causing an eyesore.
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Tasmania's coast glows with algae - a sign of environmental imbalance
1 Jan 2025The state's southeastern ocean is experiencing a rare bioluminescent red algal bloom that bursts into vibrant blue at night.
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Chch quake recovery leader Peter Skelton becomes a knight
31 Dec 2024Sir Peter Skelton - who was also an Environment Canterbury Commissioner - has been made Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to environmental law.
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Heat wave caused 'catastrophic loss' in bird species
27 Dec 2024A marine heat wave has killed approximately half of Alaska's common murre population, marking the largest recorded die-off of a single species in modern history, research has found.
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Do EVs still stack up after a tough year?
20 Dec 2024Subsidies are gone, road user charges are in, and ACC levies are up. So do electric cars still make financial sense?
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Our Changing World: Top 10 listens for 2024
26 Dec 2024From the puzzles of our mind to the deep sea and the far-flung subantarctic islands, these podcast episodes have explored our changing world in 2024.
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What methane seeping from Antarctic might mean
19 Dec 2024Methane is escaping from below the seafloor in Antarctica - what are the potential implications for further warming of the planet?
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Whanganui rejects fast-track seabed mining project
13 Dec 2024Local councillors have opposed seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight and applauded an impassioned first-term councillor for bringing the issue to the table.
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The bacterial world inside New Zealand's 'living fossil'
12 Dec 2024Tuatara have changed little since their ancestors hung out with dinosaurs, but what about their gut bacteria?
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New emissions plan still not on track to meet 2031-2035 climate targets
11 Dec 2024However the government's new plan moves the country closer to its crucial emissions budget for 2031-2035. Audio
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How pills for cows and 'light recipes' may help slow global warming
7 Dec 2024A range of tools are not too far off to knock back greenhouse gases from livestock burps.
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The glass sponges of Antarctica
6 Dec 2024Underneath the flat white expanse of sea ice, the Antarctic seafloor is a world of colour, structures and life, with mysterious giant glass sponges at the centre of it all.
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Methane debate still rages after government-initiated review
5 Dec 2024Both sides of methane debate claim to be backed by science, but say their opponents are "political".
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Is your KiwiSaver as green as it claims to be?
'Greenwashing' - making investments seem more responsible than they really were - is a critical challenge for fund managers.
