Climate Change Series

After Paris, UK's latest 'carbon budget' just isn't ambitious enough

Jul 04, 2016 18:51 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature Law

A major new climate policy was announced by the UK government on June 30, almost unnoticed in the Brexit aftermath. The medias focus on Westminster backstabbing meant the countrys latest carbon budget, widely heralded as...

Climate Change Series

Humans now drive evolution on Earth, both creating and destroying species

Jul 04, 2016 18:47 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

When scientists examine the impact of humans on the planet, the focus is mainly on the extinction of species. But increasingly researchers are looking at the idea that humans, through animal domestication, relocation and...

Climate Change Series

Shrinking hole in the ozone layer shows what collective action can achieve

Jul 04, 2016 18:26 pm UTC| Nature Insights & Views

The hole in the ozone layer was first discovered in 1985 by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, who described how ozone levels above the Antarctic were steadily dropping compared to the previous decade. This was...

Climate Change Series

What President Buhari can do to help Ogoniland clean up oil pollution

Jun 30, 2016 14:44 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The Nigerian government has finally started the clean-up of oil-soaked Ogoniland after years of inaction. A billion dollars has been committed to what has been described as one of the worlds most wide-ranging and long-term...

Climate Change Series

Green and cool roofs provide relief for hot cities, but should be sited carefully

Jun 30, 2016 13:40 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature Technology

More than half of the worlds population lives in cities, and the United Nations projects that this share will rise to 70 percent by 2050. During the daytime, these expanding urban areas absorb more solar energy than the...

Does a planet need plate tectonics to develop life?

Jun 28, 2016 20:05 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature Science

Plate tectonics may be a phase in the evolution of planets that has implications for the habitability of exoplanets, according to new research published this month in the journal Physics of the Earth and Planetary...

Climate Change Series

We can have fish and dams: here's how

Jun 27, 2016 23:24 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Fish are the most threatened group among Earths freshwater vertebrates. On average, freshwater fish populations have declined by 76% over the past 40 years. Damaged fish communities and declining fisheries characterise...