Category Archives: Environment

The Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall, UK. Mark Godden/Shutterstock Helen Parish, University of Reading and Ewan Macdonald, University of Oxford An ancient kola tree has been cut down in southern Ghana. Local tradition held that the tree had grown … Continue reading →

Hybrid systems combine two or more technologies to heat a house. ThomsonD/Shutterstock Jovana Radulovic, University of Portsmouth To heat your home without damaging the climate, you will need to replace your gas boiler. UK government advisers recommend switching to appliances … Continue reading →

A cargo vessel with Flettner rotors – a modern equivalent to sails. Norsepower, Author provided James Mason, University of Manchester; Alice Larkin, University of Manchester, and Simon Bullock, University of Manchester In the vast expanse of the world’s oceans, a … Continue reading →

Calum McGeown, Queen’s University Belfast; John Barry, Queen’s University Belfast, and Louise Taylor, Queen’s University Belfast Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in the UK and Ireland. It is a protected area of special scientific interest and the source … Continue reading →

Richard Gregory, UCL The UK is considered one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. This is not surprising given its history of early industrialisation and agricultural intensification. These islands have lost species and unique habitats have shrunk to … Continue reading →

Households that produced their own fruit and veg wasted 95% less than the average UK household. Air Images/Shutterstock Boglarka Zilla Gulyas, University of Sheffield and Jill Edmondson, University of Sheffield The rising cost of living is making it harder for … Continue reading →

The Whanganui River, New Zealand. Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock Rónán Kennedy, University of Galway As the scale and severity of environmental issues become more obvious, lawmakers are experimenting with new ways to protect nature. One approach that has gone from blue-sky debate … Continue reading →

A bumblebee flying over a blooming bramble bush. Legonkov Vladimir Francis Ratnieks, University of Sussex and Nick Balfour, University of Sussex Since the end of the second world war, factors such as more intensive farming and urbanisation have reduced the … Continue reading →

Shutterstock Noel Castree, University of Technology Sydney It made world news last week when a small lake in Canada was chosen as the “Golden Spike” – the location where the emergence of the Anthropocene is most clear. The Anthropocene is … Continue reading →