The ice sheets and glaciers that cover one-tenth of Earth’s land surface are in grave peril. High in the Alps, Andes, and Himalaya, once-indomitable glaciers are retreating, even dying. Meanwhile, in Antarctica, thinning glaciers may be unlocking vast quantities of methane stored for millions of years beneath the ice. In Ice Rivers: A Story of Glaciers, Wild ... Show More
Yesterday
Micah S. Muscolino, "Remaking the Earth, Exhausting the People: The Burden of Conservation in Modern China" (U Washington Press, 2025)
From the 1940s to the 1960s, soil and water conservation measures transformed both the arid, erosion-prone environment of China’s Loess Plateau and the lives of rural people. Remaking the Earth, Exhausting the People: The Burden of Conservation in Modern China (U Washington Press ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 24
Stephen D. Hopper, "Eucalyptus" (Reaktion, 2025)
Eucalypts, iconic to Australia, have shaped art, science and landscapes worldwide. With around nine hundred species, from towering giants to compact mallees, these trees inspire awe and curiosity. Their hardwood has driven industries, sparked protests and even toppled governments ... Show More
49 m
Nov 23
Heather Davis, "Plastic Matter" (Duke UP, 2022)
Plastic is ubiquitous. It is in the Arctic, in the depths of the Mariana Trench, and in the high mountaintops of the Pyrenees. It is in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Nanoplastics penetrate our cell walls. Plastic is not just any material—it is emblematic of life in t ... Show More
1h 1m
Feb 2023
New findings on the "Doomsday Glacier"
The Thwaites Glacier in Antartica is known as the “doomsday glacier" -- that's because if it melts, it could raise sea levels by up to 10 feet. Now, new research is changing our understanding of this glacier. Plus, Tesla’s role in making electric vehicle chargers more available n ... Show More
12m 2s
Nov 2022
What peat can tell us about our future
The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest peatland. Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at UCL and the University of Leeds, tells Roland how peatlands all around the world are showing early alarm bells of change. From the boreal Arctic forests to the Amazon, Simo ... Show More
53m 36s
Aug 2022
What do warmer waters mean for life below the waves?
<p>The Ocean, it covers more than 70% of the surface if our planet, it provides us with food, medicine and even influences the weather.</p><p>For years its also helped to mitigate the effects of climate change. Since the 1970’s over 90% of atmospheric warming caused by green hous ... Show More
27m 22s
Sep 2020
After the Ice: The Younger Dryas, the Mesolithic, and the Birth of a New World
<p>For most of <em>Homo sapiens</em>' time out of Africa, we lived in a world defined by ice. But by around 20,000 years ago, the ice had begun to melt, the glaciers retreating back toward the poles and mountain ranges. This left behind a new world, a whole different series of en ... Show More
47m 41s