pollution
Notes on the natural world: an exquisite collection from Kathleen Jamie
In short essays and poems, the Scottish makar explores our connections with nature, always mindful of the insignificance of human time compared to the deep time of stones
Why must we be in constant battle with the ocean?
As we continue to fill the depths with plastic and radioactive waste, our coastlines are increasingly battered by tsunamis and erosion
The amazing aerial acrobatics of swifts
Over the course of one midsummer’s day, Mark Cocker presents a startling picture of the breeding, feeding, fledging and migrating habits of these little dynamos of life
A mighty river with many names: adventures on the Amur
The Amur is the eighth or tenth longest river in the world, depending on whom you believe. The veteran travel…
Why has the EU let German car manufacturers off the hook?
Two billion? Five billion? Perhaps ten billion to make it a nice round number? For colluding on diesel emissions you…
Paradise regained: how the world’s wastelands are regenerating
Ignoring the padlocked gate, my six-year-old son Nicholas and I climbed through a break in the metal fence and pushed…
Why fungi might solve the world’s problems
The biologist Merlin Sheldrake is an intriguing character. In a video promoting the publication of his book Entangled Life, which…
The strange case of the everlasting bonfire
The bonfire burned and burned, choking out black smoke, and when my headache got so bad I could barely see…
The truth about air quality? It’s the best (and cleanest) in living memory
We are, of course, in the midst of an air pollution crisis which, like every other threat to our health…
Will seagulls become as scary as Hitchcock’s The Birds?
Little Toller Books, in Dorset, aims to publish old and new writing on nature by the very best writers and…
Think of five things you use daily that weren’t made in a factory
Industrial factories huddle at the very edge of our world view. Most of us have never visited one, but we…
Ikea’s founder was a billionaire skinflint – but others were even worse
Tight money Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Ikea, was worth an estimated £40 billion. Yet the eighth richest man in…
Watergate
Enough has been written about a Conservative government that knows its electoral success depends on Britain remaining a property-owning democracy,…
Creature comforts
As naturalist, educator and writer, John Lister-Kaye was for many years a voice in the wilderness. In 1976, when nature…
The toughest, smartest, strangest creatures ever to evolve are nearing the end of their continental shelf life
The rich, strange, finely balanced ecosystems of the oceans — on which our lives depend — are profoundly threatened, says Rose George
Lawlessness, corruption, poverty and pollution: the city where we're all headed
India’s vast polluted capital, where brutality, corruption and ruthless self-seeking are endemic, could be the blueprint of the future, says Peter Parker
Barometer: Storm waves? It could be three times worse
The test of a wave Waves measuring 27ft from peak to trough were seen off Land’s End as the stormy…
Does Xi Jinping really want reform? If so, he would unravel China
For all its bombast and success, the Chinese Communist party faces a host of looming problems – and a big decision
