How plankton helped create the Earth’s mountains 2 billion years ago

Mountains can’t be created without lubricant, and 2 billion years ago that lubricant was graphite produced by the carbon broken down from layers of dead plankton on the ocean floor.

John Parnell, Professor of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen • conversation
Dec. 2, 2021 ~7 min

If universities want to hit climate targets, they should use their land for carbon offsetting

New research shows that universities could offset carbon by changing some of their land to woodlands and meadows.

David Werner, Professor in Environmental Systems Modelling, Newcastle University • conversation
Nov. 24, 2021 ~6 min


Climate change: how elephants help pump planet-warming carbon underground

Efforts to preserve biodiversity and slow climate change make natural bedfellows.

Jeppe Aagaard Kristensen, Carlsberg Foundation Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford Ecosystems Lab, University of Oxford • conversation
Nov. 18, 2021 ~5 min

COP26: how unlocking nature's power can help the UK step up its fight against climate change

Nature-based solutions can help us sustainably tackle climate disasters - but to do that, they urgently need policy support.

Nathalie Seddon, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford • conversation
Nov. 9, 2021 ~8 min

How unlocking nature's power can help the UK step up its fight against climate change

Nature-based solutions can help us sustainably tackle climate disasters - but to do that, they urgently need policy support.

Nathalie Seddon, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford • conversation
Nov. 9, 2021 ~8 min

The new Global Methane Pledge can buy time while the world drastically reduces fossil fuel use

Of the big pledges so far at the UN climate conference, cutting methane could have the most immediate impact.

Jeff Nesbit, Research Affiliate, Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, Yale University • conversation
Nov. 8, 2021 ~6 min

Why the fate of our planet's environment depends on the state of its soil

If we want to reduce carbon emissions and preserve planetary ecosystems, we need to protect our soils.

Duncan Cameron, Professor of Plant and Soil Biology, University of Sheffield • conversation
Nov. 3, 2021 ~7 min

Cities and climate change: why low-rise buildings are the future – not skyscrapers

New research has found that low-rise urban environments are more space and carbon efficient than high-rise buildings which have a drastically higher carbon impact.

Francesco Pomponi, Associate Professor of Sustainability Science, Edinburgh Napier University • conversation
Oct. 27, 2021 ~8 min


A publicly owned energy industry could help tackle energy poverty and increase renewables

Problems with affordable, accessible energy could be mitigated by making more energy providers publicly owned.

David Hall, Visiting Professor in Public Services, University of Greenwich • conversation
Oct. 12, 2021 ~8 min

Heat pumps: UK to install 600,000 a year by 2028 but electrical grid will need massive investment to cope

A shift to heating our homes by heat pumps would put massive pressure on the electricity grid.

Ali Ehsan, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Future Energy Networks, University of Manchester • conversation
Sept. 30, 2021 ~7 min

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