Sustainable Earth

Topic description and stories

̽��ֱ��climate crisis and biodiversity losses are affecting the planet at an alarming pace. Cambridge researchers are helping the response to these threats, building resilience, supporting the transition from fossil fuels to a zero-carbon future, and enabling us to act sustainably to protect the planet's precious resources and reduce waste.

̽��ֱ��climate crisis: towards zero carbon

26 February 2020

Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall DBE and leading Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� researchers talk about the urgency of climate crisis – and some of the solutions that will take us towards zero carbon.

Drone images show Greenland Ice Sheet becoming more unstable as it fractures

03 Dec 2019

̽��ֱ��world’s second-largest ice sheet, and the single largest contributor to global sea level rise, is potentially becoming unstable because of...

A feast for the senses

29 Nov 2019

A mouth-watering / stomach-churning new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum explores our complex relationship with food

Women in STEM: Fiona Llewellyn-Beard

28 Nov 2019

Fiona Llewellyn-Beard is a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences, where she studies salt marshes and how they store huge amounts of...

Cambridge Zero

26 Nov 2019

If we are to avert a climate disaster, we must sharply reduce our emissions, starting today. Cambridge Zero, the ̽��ֱ��'s ambitious new climate...

Cambridge Green

20 Nov 2019

From removing ruminant meat from its menus to building ‘green’ buildings, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is weaving sustainability into its very fabric...

Laboratory experiment of a cross-ventilated room

Wind more effective than cold air at cooling rooms naturally

20 Nov 2019

̽��ֱ��effectiveness of non-mechanical, low-energy methods for moderating temperature and humidity has been evaluated in a series of experiments by...

Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater ecosystems

18 Nov 2019

Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these...

Saving ‘Half-Earth’ for nature would affect over a billion people

18 Nov 2019

Plans to save biodiversity must take into account the social impacts of conservation if they are to succeed, say ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge researchers.

Sir David Attenborough: "Our planet hangs in the balance"

18 Nov 2019

Forests burn, glaciers melt and one million species face extinction. Can we humans save the planet from ourselves? Here, Sir David Attenborough...

'Upcycling' crowned Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year 2019

05 Nov 2019

Cambridge Dictionary has named 'upcycling', the activity of making new items out of old or used things, as its Word of the Year 2019.

Banner from a climate strike in Erlangen, Germany

Opinion: Climate change, pandemics, biodiversity loss – no country is sufficiently prepared

01 Nov 2019

Two Cambridge risk researchers discuss how national governments are still stuck on "old problems", and run through the things that should be keeping...

Switching to ‘green’ inhalers could reduce carbon emissions and cut costs, study suggests

30 Oct 2019

Many current inhalers for conditions such as asthma contain propellants that are potent greenhouse gases. A study from researchers at the ̽��ֱ��...

̽��ֱ��