An official welcome to the Anthropocene epoch – but who gets to decide it's here?

Aug 30, 2016 08:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Its literally epoch-defining news. A group of experts tasked with considering the question of whether we have officially entered the Anthropocene the geological age characterised by humans influence on the planet has...

Italy's deadly earthquake is the latest in a history of destruction

Aug 27, 2016 13:24 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The Appenines region of central Italy has been struck by a deadly earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.2. The quake, which had an epicentre roughly 10km southeast of Norcia, Italy, occurred just over seven years after the...

Climate Change Series

The Industrial Revolution kick-started global warming much earlier than we realised

Aug 26, 2016 08:56 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, no one would have thought that their burning of fossil fuels would have an almost immediate effect on the climate. But our new study, published today in Nature, reveals that...

Climate Change Series

Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana

Aug 23, 2016 09:33 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

This months extraordinary flooding in southeast Louisiana damaged some 40,000 homes, prompting more than 70,000 people to sign up for FEMA assistance. The proximate cause was a slow-moving storm system that dropped up to...

Climate Change Series

Climate change will create new ecosystems, so let's help plants move

Aug 23, 2016 06:21 am UTC| Nature

Australias ecosystems are already showing the signs of climate change, from the recent death of mangrove forests in northern Australia, to the decline in birds in eastern Australia, to the inability of mountain ash forests...

New Zealand is letting economics rule its environmental policies

Aug 22, 2016 10:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature Economy

Balancing the environment with development is tricky. One way for policymakers to include the value of ecosystems in development is to set limits for pollution and other environmental impacts, known as environmental bottom...

Climate Change Series

What if we abandoned Britain's farms and left them to nature?

Aug 22, 2016 09:24 am UTC| Nature

Without farming, Britains countryside would be drastically different. Imagine walking through landscapes un-tilled, un-sown, un-fertilised and un-treated, nor grazed by cattle or sheep. Following the Brexit vote, the...