Issues

There is no shortage of evidence that humanity is in a very serious place environmentally. But is there evidence for optimism? Paul Allen, Zero Carbon Britain, says yes.

12 September 2018

Dr Alan Cottey gives a brief account of Martin Ryle's intense and complex relations with war and peace. This article is part of the marking of the centenary of Sir Martin Ryle (1918 - 1984).

15 August 2018

Significant progress on measures to protect the world's oceans has been made over the past couple of years - but there is more to be done. SGR's Dr Stuart Parkinson and Dr Louisa Reynolds explain.

17 July 2018

Today a coalition of science and peace organisations has launched the European initiative Researchers for Peace. Over 700 scientists and academics, most from 19 EU countries, have signed an online statement which calls on the EU to stop funding military research. They invite their colleagues in the research community to add their support.

Media release, 27 June 2018

Climate change can increase the risk of violent conflict, so why don't we redirect some of the funding for military technologies to help tackle climate insecurity? Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, assesses the potential based on the latest international data on military and climate spending.

Article from Laboratory News; republished: 22 June 2018

With nuclear issues leading the global political agenda, in an exclusive piece for the Responsible Science blog, based on his new book Fallout: A Journey Through the Nuclear Age, From the Atom Bomb to Radioactive Waste, science writer Fred Pearce exposes the toxic and security risks of the UK's growing 'Mt Plutonium' - 130 tons and rising of plutonium dioxide left behind by an energy technology that never took-off and is no longer wanted.

13 June 2018

As the UK government chooses World Environment Day to announce plans for a third, polluting runway at Heathrow Airport, and new reports point to air quality worsening internationally, May van Schalkwyk and Emer O'Connell look at the global public health crisis of air pollution, and the key steps needed to tackle it.

5 June 2018

In the first of two articles marking the centenary of former Astronomer Royal, Martin Ryle (1918–1984), Dr Alan Cottey describes how, early on, he saw the flaws in nuclear and fossil fuel energy and how renewables were the answer.

8 May 2018

North Sea oil began flowing into the UK economy in 1975 and production peaked in 1999. Ever since, the industry has faced inevitable decline. Now, writes Andrew Simms, a new report reveals how decommissioning its infrastructure is raising questions of cost, contradictions in climate and energy policy, and the prospect of a huge bill being passed on to the next generation.

30 April 2018

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un have reminded many of the risks of nuclear conflict, but have we forgotten the dangers of simply owning the weapons? David Cullen and Peter Burt, Nuclear Information Service, summarise a recent report on the frightening scale of accidents within Britain's military nuclear complex - and the shocking reality that the full extent of the problem can't be known because no central record has been kept.

23 April 2018