Carbon in organic matter (decaying plant and animal remains) in the soil is a globally-significant carbon store. The world’s soils hold three times more carbon than the world’s plants, amounting…Read More >
Environment
Drought recedes in Britain after a wet spring – but much of Europe is parched
Be careful what you wish for. Britain’s seesaw rainfall patterns that began last winter have continued, with an on-off pattern of dry and then wet months for many areas. In the south…Read More >
Five ways to protect and restore biodiversity in the UK
To mark International Day for Biodiversity, we can acknowledge both the rich biodiversity of the United Kingdom and also the challenges it faces. In the UK, we are lucky to…Read More >
How can gardeners stop the spread of invasive species?
It’s Invasive Species Week (15–22 May 2023) and so a perfect opportunity to look at this issue as one of the top five threats to nature, and how gardeners can…Read More >
Owning houseplants can boost your mental health – here’s how to pick the right one
In both Europe and the US, people spend up to 90% of their time indoors. But spending so much time inside can have consequences for your mental health. The World Health Organization estimates that 5%…Read More >
Why it’s time for new approaches to environmental and health issues in the EU
An article recently published in Environmental Science & Policy suggests that current economic approaches to addressing environmental and health issues in the European Union suffer from a lack of imagination,…Read More >
How fish evolved to walk – and in one case, turned into humans
When you think about human evolution, there’s a good chance you’re imagining chimpanzees exploring ancient forests or early humans daubing woolly mammoths on to cave walls. But we humans, along…Read More >
Why the UK has only had one named storm so far this winter – an expert explains
Storm Otto, which was named by the Danish Meteorological Institute, hit Scotland and north-east England last Friday (February 17 2023) with wind gusts of over 80mph, disrupting power to 61,000…Read More >
Five things you probably have wrong about rain
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. It was first published in November 2022. There’s been so much rain over the last few weeks it’s hard…Read More >