How the pursuit of carbon and fossil fuels harms vulnerable communities

Dec 04, 2016 19:19 pm UTC| Nature

2016 is set to be the hottest year on record. Global temperatures are already 1,2C above pre-industrial levels, and total reductions in emissions, committed by individual countries, far exceed globally agreed targets. This...

Planet Earth II: why more than 200,000 saiga antelopes died in just days

Dec 04, 2016 19:17 pm UTC| Nature

On the remote steppes of central Kazakhstan, a truly extraordinary and tragic event unfolded in May 2015. Female saigas gathered in huge numbers to give birth on the open plain over a period of just 10 days and a BBC...

Climate Change Series

How can the UK government meet its legal air pollution targets?

Dec 04, 2016 02:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Each year, air pollution contributes to around 25,000 deaths in the UK. Its a shocking statistic. By law, the government is obliged to cut high levels of harmful gases in the shortest possible time, yet in November the...

Climate Change Series

We can cut emissions in half by 2040 if we build smarter cities

Dec 01, 2016 19:24 pm UTC| Nature

As a planet, we have some serious climate targets to meet in the coming years. The Paris Agreement, signed by 192 countries, set an aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ᵒC. The United Nations Sustainable...

How microplastics make their way up the ocean food chain into fish

Dec 01, 2016 19:13 pm UTC| Nature

Up to 236,000 tonnes of microplastics tiny pieces of broken-down plastic smaller than your little fingernail enter our oceans each year. This has researchers around the world worried, as wildlife can be harmed by eating...

From warm to swarm: why insect activity increases in summer

Dec 01, 2016 02:38 am UTC| Nature

While the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting an increase in the average temperature this summer, entomologists are forecasting an increase in insect activity. It might seem that insects choose to annoy us over the...

Climate Change Series

No politician can singlehandedly bring back coal – not even Donald Trump

Dec 01, 2016 02:23 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

On the night Donald Trump won the US election, one of the many jubilant supporters featured in the media coverage was 67-year-old Doug Ratliff of Richlands, Virginia. An owner of struggling shopping malls in a region hit...