Nature’s playbook

Learning from nature's experience of catastrophe. Our increasingly urban world now rivals a rainforest or a coral reef in its connectedness and complexity. But unlike these natural creations, we struggle to persist through a disaster. From termite queens to the carbon cycle, nature knows how to avoid network collapse. In this awe-inspiring insight into nature's many safety catches, Ruth DeFries — a professor of sustainable development — examines why human designers desperately need to start looking at these natural wonders for inspiration.