Average months now feel cold thanks to climate change
People in the UK love discussing the weather. For the first two weeks of June 2024, the cold, dull conditions were all they could talk about. Major news outlets like...Read More >
Environment
Why we’re hunting through a century of data from Britain’s northernmost observatory
Built in 1913 as a naval radio station, the Shetland Isles’ Met Office at Lerwick provides the temperature reading you see on the top right-hand corner of the UK weather...Read More >
Spirited Away play review: a wonderful artistic imagining of Studio Ghibli’s tale of environmental stewardship
Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese animation studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, has captivated audiences worldwide with its visually stunning and thematically rich films. In recent years, they...Read More >
Why does it feel so cold in the UK right now – and when will it warm up?
It looks like spring, but it doesn’t feel anything like it. The trees have green leaves, the flowers are blooming, yet it’s hard to believe that next week is May,...Read More >
Feeling depleted? So is the planet. Here’s how to move from exhaustion to empowerment
Have you felt overwhelmed recently? Stressed and exhausted from the busy treadmill of modern life? You’re not alone. Global polls suggest 76% of people experience burnout at least sometimes at work. Earth...Read More >
‘April showers’ – a rainfall scientist explains what they are and why they are becoming more intense
“March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers”, goes the old British proverb. The term was even (almost) used in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 1300s: “Whan that...Read More >
Side-effects of expanding forests could limit their potential to tackle climate change – new study
Tackling climate change by planting trees has an intuitive appeal. They absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without using expensive technology. The suggestion that you can plant…Read More >
Our most read articles of 2023
In 2023, researchers at the University of Reading published 57 articles on The Conversation. Together, these have been read over 2.7 million times. Here you can find the top three…Read More >
Energy demand flexibility research will be a gamechanger in the transition to net zero
In 2015, world leaders at COP21 committed to a 1.5°C target for global warming by 2050. To stay on course, science tells us that we must reduce our carbon emissions…Read More >
The Tea Bag Index: using tea bags to measure soil decomposition and help predict future changes in climate
Dr Sarah Duddigan at the University of Reading is working alongside scientists across the globe who are using tea bags to help predict future changes in climate. They’re not reading…Read More >
