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Earth science and climate

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science

Astronomy Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Complexity Computing and artificial intelligence Cosmology Deep time Earth science and climate Ecology and environmental sciences Engineering Evolution Genetics History of science Human evolution Human reproduction Illness and disease Mathematics Medicine Oceans and water Palaeontology Physics Quantum theory Space exploration

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Satellite image showing swirling ocean currents in vivid colours off the east coast of the US.

videoOceans and water

A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans

5 minutes

Photo of people walking outdoors carrying trays of plants, surrounded by bushes and greenery.

essayMeaning and the good life

Welcome to the Chaoscene

The climate crisis is here. In order to thrive in these dangerous and precarious times, we must build resilient communities

Rupert Read

Abstract blue and white painting of a plant silhouette on a dark background.

videoEarth science and climate

Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth

3 minutes

A large, artificial ice structure in a mountainous landscape with clear blue sky in the background.

videoEngineering

Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?

15 minutes

Microscope photo of a flea’s head showing detailed orange and black features against a black background.

videoBiology

‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one

11 minutes

Heron standing on a small patch of greenery surrounded by calm water with a lush forest in the background.

essayEarth science and climate

The planetary fix

Despite decades of inaction we can avert the climate Hellocene and restore the atmosphere to keep our world habitable

Rob Jackson

Photo of a dark, rugged rock formation emerging from blurred ocean waves under a cloudy sky.

essayDeep time

Roaming rocks

Metamorphic rocks are our emissaries from the deep, travelling to alien realms and revealing the restless nature of Earth

Marcia Bjornerud

Coastal erosion showing a collapsed road beside the sea with houses nearby, a person walking a dog on the beach.

essayHome

How to lose your home

In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future?

Dan Hancox

Photo of a person in a winter coat and beanie looking at a snow-covered town, with mountains in the background.

videoEarth science and climate

There’s a ‘climate bomb’ ticking beneath the Arctic ice. How can we prepare?

8 minutes

Silhouette of a person walking through a spray of water at sunset with cars and buildings in the background.

essayNeuroscience

The melting brain

It’s not just the planet and not just our health – the impact of a warming climate extends deep into our cortical fissures

Clayton Page Aldern

Black and white snowy mountain scene with vehicles, overlaid by a large smear of vivid blue paint in the upper right area.

videoKnowledge

An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place

4 minutes

Weather map showing temperature, cloud cover, and other meteorological data across Ireland, the UK, and part of mainland Europe. Isobars are also depicted.

videoWar and peace

A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster

6 minutes

Aerial view of an industrial site emitting smoke, surrounded by snow-covered buildings and landscape, under a clear blue sky with birds flying overhead.

essayPolitics and government

Governing for the planet

Nation-states are no longer fit for purpose to create a habitable future for humans and nature. Which political system is?

Jonathan S Blake & Nils Gilman

A person wearing a sun hat and sunglasses, standing in front of a snowy mountain range under a clear blue sky.

videoEarth science and climate

The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact

22 minutes

A measure for depth of water stands upright in a dried up landscape that was formerly a lake

essayInformation and communication

Beware climate populism

The most ardent deniers of anthropogenic climate change today will become the climate conspiracy theorists of tomorrow

Ákos Szegőfi

A man in a hat stands next to a door covered with yellow caution tape, casting a shadow on the rough grey wall.

essayEarth science and climate

When does after begin?

Three earthquakes hit Mexico City on the same date in 1985, 2017 and 2022. The coincidence left the city stranded in time

Lachlan Summers

Illustration of a prehistoric forest with various dinosaurs, including herbivores, a pterosaur flying, and a small carnivorous mammal-like creature.

essayPalaeontology

The dinosaurs didn’t rule

When we think of changes in Earth’s history as changes of dynasty we miss out on understanding how life really works

Riley Black

Two small ancient stone statues, each depicting a seated figure, displayed on dark stands in a dimly lit setting.

essayStories and literature

Poet of impermanence

Enheduana is the first known named author. Her poems of strife and upheaval resonate in our own unstable times

Sophus Helle

A cityscape view with reflections of people on windows and a dramatic cloudy sky in the background.

essayEarth science and climate

Deep warming

Even if we ‘solve’ global warming, we face an older, slower problem. Waste heat could radically alter Earth’s future

Mark Buchanan

A dramatic black-and-white landscape of a vast lake, surrounded by mountains, under a large, turbulent sky filled with clouds.

essayAnthropology

Memories within myth

The stories of oral societies, passed from generation to generation, are more than they seem. They are scientific records

Patrick Nunn

Pigs grazing in a green meadow with scattered trees under a partly cloudy sky.

essayEarth science and climate

The return of silvopasture

This ancient practice, nurturing animals and trees in an ecological system, fights climate change and restores the land

Liz Carlisle & Niki Mazaroli

An aerial view of a swampy area with scattered patches of brown vegetation and reflective blue water.

videoEarth science and climate

A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse

6 minutes

Person with a notepad and pencil wearing a red hat, standing in a dense forest with fallen trees and foliage.

essayEnvironmental history

Disturbance

How atomic doomsday experiments, fuelled by Cold War fears, shaped then shook ecologists’ faith in self-healing nature

Laura J Martin

People in protective suits walk through a dense, tropical forest with tall trees and lush greenery.

essaySpace exploration

There’s no planet B

The scientific evidence is clear: the only celestial body that can support us is the one we evolved with. Here’s why

Arwen E Nicholson & Raphaëlle D Haywood