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There are many things people have love-hate relationships with in Britain and Ireland, from Brussels sprouts to cricket or sea swimming. Another item can now be added to this list: the reintroduction of lynx and wolves to the countryside.

You might think of Australia’s arid centre as a dry desert landscape devoid of aquatic life. But it’s actually dotted with thousands of rock holes – natural rainwater reservoirs that act as little oases for tiny freshwater animals and plants when they hold water.

It often seems like a great idea at the time. There’s a streaming service, paywalled news site or premium version of an app you want to try, offering a “no strings attached” free trial.

Air pollution is the latest environmental crisis causing havoc across Iran. Large parts of the country are already suffering from a drought, one of the worst in decades. Its wetlands are dry, and its land is subsiding at alarming rates.

If you walked into a supermarket during a supply hiccup, storm, fuel protest, or even the early days of the COVID pandemic, you will remember the sight of empty shelves. For most people in the UK, these moments are surprising, even unsettling, precisely because they are rare. We are a…

When Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on November 28 2025, Sri Lanka experienced one of its deadliest environmental disasters in modern history.

Google recently unveiled Project Suncatcher, a research “moonshot” aiming to build a data centre in space. The tech giant plans to use a constellation of solar-powered satellites which would run on its own TPU chips and transmit data to one another via lasers.

I joined eight other experts to deliver a national emergency briefing in late November on the climate and nature to around 1,200 of the UK’s leaders — across politics, business, faith and culture — in Central Hall Westminster.

As headlines about heatwaves, floods and wildfires become more frequent, many people report a growing sense of worry about what climate change means for their future. Some recent media reports have even suggested that emotions like “eco-grief” could drive people toward unhealthy coping strategies, including increased use of alcohol or…

Wolves are returning across Europe – but not to the UK and Ireland, where public support is lukewarm at best. Ecologists point out their benefits, while farmers worry about their livestock. But another influence on public opinion is rarely discussed: Hollywood’s obsession with the wolf as a monster.

Jane Austen’s Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since the author’s birth. In each episode, we’ll be investigating a different aspect of Austen’s personality by interrogating one of her novels with leading researchers. Along the way, we’ll visit locations important to Austen to uncover a…