Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Nate Hagens In the first instalment of a new series on thinking about the future, Nate Hagens argues that most debates about what lies ahead are shaped by a single competing narrative. He introduces “scenario thinking” as a way to hold multiple possible futures at once, and explores why this is psychologically and culturally difficult in practice.
Studies show a steep decline in nature-related language, from books to music. Now, projects like children’s books, citizen science platforms and everyday practices like gardening and birdwatching are helping rebuild our ecological vocabulary.
New research shows that plants can temporarily halt root growth under stresses like cold and drought, then rapidly restart it once conditions improve. By identifying the genes behind this “pause and push” response, scientists hope to develop crops that recover more quickly from extreme weather, strengthening food security in a changing climate.
If modernity cannot endure within planetary limits, what comes next? Dave Murphy and Tom Murphy debate the likelihood of collapse, the possibility of adaptation and what we owe each other in a time of ecological overshoot.
More than 50 countries are meeting in Colombia to explore how economies can move away from coal, oil and gas through “complementary” multilateral negotiations.
As references to rivers, trees, and wildlife fade from books, songs, and everyday speech, our connection to the natural world also diminishes. Reclaiming these words can help us recognize, appreciate, and ultimately, preserve the environment.
A rare prairie ecosystem shaped by humans in Washington State exemplifies a shift in how conservationists envision our relationship with the natural world.
In a wide-ranging exchange, physicist Tom Murphy and energy scholar Dave Murphy explore the tension between optimism and planetary limits, debating whether modernity can endure or must give way to something entirely new.
As climate impacts intensify, the UK remains dangerously unprepared for systemic shocks, from global heating to biodiversity collapse. Instead of waiting for consensus on long-term solutions, the focus must shift to resilience.
From engineered consumer addiction to environmental destruction, corporate harm is not a failure of the system but its logic. But because corporations exist by public charter, that logic can be rewritten through democratic oversight, time-limited licenses and rules that focus on risks to people and the planet.
New research finds that healthy forests act as natural infrastructure that can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of floods, both small and large.
From climate collapse to permanent war, our nervous systems are stuck between numbness and panic. A climate scientist argues that surviving the polycrisis means learning to move deliberately between neural states and building smaller, more grounded movements that protect our ability to care without breaking.
