Articles Written by Meerabai Kings
Climate change: a disease of diseases
People | Human Health, March 12th, 2022
As our climate warms, so do our seas and soils, creating reservoirs of microbial life acting as deadly pathways for infection. Warming global temperatures promise new domains for bacterial, viral and fungal life forms which threaten to jeopardise crop productivity and human health.
Siberia’s hottest record is literally ground-breaking
Environment | Tundras and Poles, February 22nd, 2022
Heatwaves across Siberia have broken records, burnt forests, and even melted the ground. As the icy foundations of Siberia give way, indigenous communities across the region are faced with collapsing infrastructure, emergency-state oil spills and the outbreaks of ancient, fatal diseases.
Scotland’s natural health service
People | Human Health, February 10th, 2022
Health care professionals in Edinburgh have officially prescribed nature to their patients, alleviating illnesses from diabetes to depression and from arthritis to anxiety. Seventy-four percent of patients benefited from their Nature Prescription, opening up the question—what can nature do for us, and what can we do for nature?
Behind the Scenes of Climate Policy
Sustainable Leaders | Global, February 2nd, 2022
How do world leaders know what to do about climate change? And how are tens of thousands of scientific papers summarised into one concise report? First-hand discussion with climate scientists reveals how climate data gets from scientist, to author, to government, to news headlines.
Ash dieback: the fatal fungus costing the Earth
Environment | Forests, January 11th, 2022
Ash dieback is transforming the British countryside, leaving extinction cascades and a £15 billion price tag in its wake. Have we learnt our lesson, or will history repeat itself?
Bristol: green giant or litter bug?
Sustainable Leaders | Europe, December 13th, 2021
In 2015, the city of Bristol was named The European Green Capital. Today, 74% of Bristolians say the city has a litter problem, and the city ranks as just the 5th greenest city in the UK. While many Bristolians are striving to clean the city’s streets and environmental record, it seems that the city’s larger organisations are the ones letting Bristol’s green standards slide.
Landed in hot water: threatened salmon shift behaviour in the face of climate change
Environment | Oceans, December 6th, 2021
Chinook salmon are a threatened species of anadromous fish, migrating thousands of miles to breed. In the face of climate change, a minority group of juvenile salmon have adopted a novel life history trait that, so far, has been the life support of the entire Californian population. Now, the innovative young salmon face a new threat of habitat loss, as waters warm and impassable dams block their access to cooler waters.
