In the middle of one of this summer's heatwaves, unable to sleep, I woke at four in the morning to find birdsong pouring in through the open window — starting almost exactly on the hour and fading again half an hour later. It struck me as extraordinary, partly because it was beautiful, and partly because I realised I almost never hear it. Most of us are asleep for the one part of the day when nature is at its loudest and most alive. It made me wonder whether those were birds that have always been here, or if there are new voices in the dawn chorus due to our shifting climate.  

More than any other challenge, climate change is the one that will most drastically define the century ahead. So, in our first episode of Reading Ahead, I wanted to ask: how do we reconnect with the natural world closely enough to understand what's changing in it, and act accordingly?