Standing in the middle of a usually busy central London street during Extinction Rebellion’s protests, the air noticeably cleaner, the area quieter, I was struck by the enormity of the challenge ahead of us.

Deadly fires across California over the past several years have shown how wildfire has become a serious public health and safety issue.

A startling phenomenon occurs after a bushfire tears through a landscape. From the blackened soil springs an extraordinary natural revival – synchronised germination that carpets the landscape in flowers and colour.

Rotating corn and soybeans could potentially contribute to long-term declines in soil organic matter, researchers report.

At a time when cities are under pressure from growing populations, global warming and worsening inequality, we need to be making the most of our urban spaces.

The island nation of Indonesia, where waters teem with coral fish, banned the use of bombs and cyanide for fishing in 2004.

It’s March 2018. A massive storm has hit Sydney’s northern beaches. Luckily no one is hurt, but the floodwaters take days to drain away and the economic impact is serious.

Urban flooding represents the most common yet severe environmental threat to cities and towns worldwide. Future changes in rainfall extremes are likely to increase this threat, even in areas that could become drier.

The impacts of climate change on weather, sea levels, food and water supplies should be seen as an investment opportunity for our cities, says global investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.

The UK’s Labour Party has pledged to offer voters a Green New Deal at the next election. 

Globally, about two billion people suffer from “hidden hunger” – a chronic deficiency of vitamins and minerals.

Climate change is not inherently funny. Typically, the messengers are serious scientists describing how rising greenhouse gas emissions are harming the planet on land and at sea, or assessing what role it played in the latest wildfire or hurricane.

Acclimatising to heat is a tough gig. Since 1970, central Australian regions have warmed 1.2ᵒC and as the world continues to get warmer, increasingly common and increasingly intense heat waves will make acclimatising even tougher.

The flames consuming the Amazon rainforest this year have alarmed the world, renewing concerns about one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions and the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere

Most of the heat from global warming has gone into the oceans, so it is no wonder that the seas are experiencing massive heatwaves too. What’s more, climate change is causing a fall in global ocean oxygen levels.

It is difficult to remember when we are in the midst of winter, but keeping cool in summer is a big issue for some communities.

News images of traumatised homeowners huddled in front of the ashes of their homes have become increasingly familiar in recent years.

The Persian Gulf is already one of the hottest parts of the world, but by the end of the century increasing heat combined with intense humidity will make the region too hot for habitation, according to research published in Nature Climate Change.

We are living in a time of extraordinary ecological loss. Not only are human actions destabilising the very conditions that sustain life, but it is also increasingly clear that we are pushing the Earth into an entirely new geological era, often described as the Anthropocene.

What does it take to be a happy and healthy city? In any city, myriad factors go into the mix – and of course we are not dealing with just one kind of city.