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.

Call of the wild collector

28 Aug 2020

Walking at ‘botanist pace’ on Mount Terror in South Africa, Dr Ángela Cano likes to stop and smell the succulents. She then measures, photographs...

New insights into lithium-ion battery failure mechanism

24 Aug 2020

Researchers have identified a potential new degradation mechanism for electric vehicle batteries – a key step to designing effective methods to...

Concordia research station in Antarctica

Carbon dioxide ‘pulses’ are a common feature of the carbon cycle

20 Aug 2020

Researchers have found that pulse-like releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere are a pervasive feature of the carbon cycle and that they are...

Adding a metre between meals boosts vegetarian appeal – study

13 Aug 2020

Researchers have identified the optimal dish positions to help 'nudge' diners into picking more planet-friendly meals in cafeterias.

Green energy and better crops: tinted solar panels could boost farm incomes

04 Aug 2020

Researchers have demonstrated the use of tinted, semi-transparent solar panels to generate electricity and produce nutritionally-superior crops...

Scientists supercharge shellfish to tackle vitamin deficiency in humans

20 Jul 2020

Cambridge scientists have developed a new way to fortify shellfish to tackle human nutrient deficiencies which cause severe health problems across...

COVID-19 and the interspecies frontier

08 Jul 2020

Professor of World History, Sujit Sivasundaram, discusses how our long history with pangolins reveals the preconditions of both the pandemic and...

Taylor Uekert studies the transformation of plastic waste into hydrogen fuel

Plastic: the new fantastic?

05 Jun 2020

Hear how Cambridge researchers are working towards eliminating plastic waste and making best use of one of the most successful materials ever...

Climate change will turn coastal Antarctica green, say scientists

20 May 2020

Scientists have created the first ever large-scale map of microscopic algae as they bloomed across the surface of snow along the Antarctic Peninsula...