Are We Getting Happier?
BBC Earth|Volume 14 - Issue 2
Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…
- Helen Russell
Are We Getting Happier?

We may not feel like it, but most of us have endured our first global pandemic surprisingly well, statistically speaking. According to the latest World Happiness Report, there’s been no overall change in ‘positive affect’ – our ability to experience positive emotions. But there has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of people who said they were worried or sad the previous day. And 22 per cent of us report that our mental health is worse than before COVID-19, with increases in depression and anxiety widespread. So while we may still be able to experience ‘the good stuff’, we’re getting more ‘sad’ too.

One reason is that the physical distancing and isolation needed during the pandemic have compromised our social connections, which are vital for happiness. Many of us have felt lonelier, less connected and less supported than before – all of which makes us less happy.

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The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins

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Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?

Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?

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The Big Burnout
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The Big Burnout

Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it

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Putting Nature To Rights
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Putting Nature To Rights

More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court

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Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
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Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?

Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft

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Volume 14 - Issue 2
Are We Getting Happier?
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Are We Getting Happier?

Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery


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Volume 14 - Issue 2
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
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“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”

Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision

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Your Mysterious Brain
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Your Mysterious Brain

Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains


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Why Do We Fall In Love?
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Why Do We Fall In Love?

Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow

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Detecting the dead
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Detecting the dead

Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Volume 14 - Issue 2