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Forget Mother Nature: This is a world of our making

Humans have transformed Earth beyond recovery – but rather than look back in despair we should look ahead to what we can achieve

Fossilised pollen shows palm trees grew on Antarctica Palm trees grew on Antarctica during the Eocene period Climate scientists have found evidence in fossilised pollen that palm trees once grew on Antarctica. The 50 million year old samples, taken from seabed sediment, show the continent was once home to lush forest with summer temperatures reaching 21C.

"The biggest threat lies in the fact that Antarctica today is covered with ice, enough to potentially raise global sea-levels by 60 metres if the continent once again reaches Eocene temperatures, which would have devastating effects all over the world."

Detailed analysis of this period was previously impossible as Eocene sediments were destroyed by glaciation or covered by thousands of metres of ice. The sediments collected contained tiny fossils and chemicals that gave an insight on the climate at the time they were deposited.

Surface temperatures in the Arctic since 2005 have been higher than for any five-year period since record keeping began in 1880, according to a new report from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, an international group within the Arctic Council that monitors the Arctic environment and provides advice on Arctic environmental protection.

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation

December 13, 2007

The popular conception of nuclear power is straight out of The Simpsons: Springfield abounds with signs of radioactivity, from the strange glow surrounding Mr. Burn's nuclear power plant workers to Homer's low sperm count. Then there's the local superhero, Radioactive Man, who fires beams of "nuclear heat" from his eyes. Nuclear power, many people think, is inseparable from a volatile, invariably lime-green, mutant-making radioactivity. Coal, meanwhile, is believed responsible for a host of more quotidian problems, such as mining accidents, acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions. But it isn't supposed to spawn three-eyed fish like Blinky. Over the past few decades, however, a series of studies has called these stereotypes into question. Among the surprising conclusions: the waste produced by coal plants is actually more radioactive than that generated by their nuclear counterparts.

A short documentary piece focusing on Fraser Christian a foraging and survival expert. We catch up with Fraser on a days beach foraging along the shoreline of Lyme Regis in Dorset and then get his opinions on free food, the current social climate and government initiatives.