How America courted increasingly destructive wildfires − and what that means for protecting homes today

Jan 17, 2025 14:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views Governance Nature

The fires burning in the Los Angeles area are a powerful example of why humans have learned to fear wildfire. Fires can level entire neighborhoods in an instant. They can destroy communities, torch pristine forests and...

How is Antarctica melting, exactly? Crucial details are beginning to come into focus

Jan 17, 2025 14:05 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The size of the Antarctic ice sheet can be hard to comprehend. Two kilometres thick on average and covering nearly twice the area of Australia, the ice sheet holds enough freshwater to raise global sea levels by 58 metres....

The UK is surprisingly short of water – but more reservoirs aren’t the answer

Jan 14, 2025 05:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Despite its rainy reputation, the UKs public water supplies are often threatened by drought and water scarcity. Shouldnt the country do a better job of capturing and using all its rain? In 2023, the governments official...

Fertile land for growing vegetables is at risk — but a scientific discovery could turn the tide

Jan 14, 2025 05:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

A large proportion of the vegetables consumed in Québec are grown in the Montérégie region in what are known as organic soils. Highly fertile and rich in organic matter, these soils are particularly...

LA fires: Fast wildfires are more destructive and harder to contain

Jan 14, 2025 05:19 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Investigators are trying to determine what caused several wind-driven wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes across the Los Angeles area in January 2025. Given the fires locations, and lack of lightning at the...

Tropical forests can be revived after logging – if they’re not turned into oil palm plantations

Jan 11, 2025 04:37 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

In parts of the tropics like the island of Borneo, the pace of environmental change has been dramatic. Not long ago, the forests that covered most of the island were largely intact. But in recent decades, the scale of...

Southern California is extremely dry, and that’s fueling fires − maps show just how dry

Jan 11, 2025 04:29 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Dry conditions across Southern California set the stage for a series of deadly wind-driven wildfires that burned thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area in early January 2025. Ming Pan, a hydrologist at the University...