Category: Environmental science
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Climate Change, Resilience, Communication
Climate Change Last week I listened to a webinar on climate change discussing findings of the draft report from the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee. Not much has changed from the year 2000 report, or the 2009 report. Well, a few changes: the science has improved, climate change is now being stated directly…
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Unknown Corals of the Deep
Corals are some of the most beautiful things to be found under the sea, blossoming in clusters like gardens off tropical coasts worldwide. Easily the grandest display is to be found in Australia with the Great Barrier Reef, and it seems that the reef may contain even more diversity than was once thought. The latest…
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Citizen Science
Citizen Scientists An interesting report released last week from the UK Environmental Observation Framework reveals the benefit of citizen scientists to governmental environmental organisations. The Nerc Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Natural History Museum in London, reviewed 234 projects – ranging from small surveys to large-scale programmes. The results found the involvement of volunteers offers “high…
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Mankind can bet on global warming, and win: Dr.Mark Boslough
Dr. Mark Boslough is a world-renowned expert on global catastrophies. As a Caltech-trained physicist, member of the technical staff of Sandia National Laboratories, and adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico, he is regularly seen on science documentaries and news reports explaining his research on planetary impacts and participating in expeditions to remote destinations…
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Great danger for the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is easily among the world’s great natural wonders. A world heritage site since 1981, it’s known everywhere as a showcase for the beauty which Earth’s oceans are capable of producing. The world’s largest system of coral reefs, it’s actually composed of over 2900 smaller reefs, stretching along Australia’s coastline for 2600…
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Breaking plates
What do Australia and India have in common? The answer is that they both share one of Earth’s tectonic plates – the drifting eggshell-like pieces of Earth’s crust, on which all of our planet’s continents sit. However, the Indo-Australian Plate is a slightly unusual one, and the two countries may not share it for much…
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Weekly Science Picks
Sigh, my photo caption sums it all up… But here are the news stories that caught my eye and I hope you find them interesting as well. Maybe reading them will inspire your own work or to dig deeper for answers. In any case, enjoy! This is one of my favorite topics because it…
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Environmental Sabbath Day – A Simple Proposal
In our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases we often overlook the cultural dimensions. These days, we love the idea of “24/7” – that production and services run “24 hours a day, 7 days a week”. Certainly this makes for higher production of goods and services, as well as greenhouse gases and general degradation of life…
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The rise in representation of non-human entities
It happened over ten years ago. Jimmy was incarcerated against his will, held in a cage, isolated, and denied the basic freedom he deserved. A Habeas Corpus request was put in on his behalf. A long ordeal involving lawyers and various international organisations. It happened again last year, in San Diego USA, Tilikum, Katina, Kasatka, Ulises and…
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Arctic sea ice extent is plummeting to a likely new record low
The plot is from US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and shows the Arctic sea ice extent data for the melt seasons of 2007 and 2012 alongside the 1979-1999 average. 2007 was a record low year, but with about three weeks of melt season left it looks likely that 2012 will set a…
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Adapting Drinking Water Resources to the Impacts of Climate change in Europe – ADWICE Stakeholder Exchange Conference 2012
The ADWICE Stakeholder Conference will take place on 2 October 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. The event will offer a platform for dialogue for understanding the vulnerability of drinking water resources, water quality and water abstraction infrastructures to local, national and European decision makers, experts and researchers, water supplier and river basin authorities. The one-day conference…
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A Tankful of Sugar
Remember those toy trucks, the 18-wheelers (tractor-trailers) that gas companies manufactured? If you grew up in the 80’s, and were a boy or had a brother, or just loved trucks, your dad probably bought one for Christmas. My brother and I would build towns out of Lincoln Logs and Legos and we would wait for…
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The Devil’s Technology
Biotechnology is rarely considered to be good for the environment. In fact, environmental campaigners frequently claim that genetically modified organisms represent a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. However, the study of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour disease (DFTD) using genetic technologies is an example where biotechnology has been used to create a definite environmental…
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The extinction that is yet to come
By 2050 they will all be gone. The worst is yet to come. The Amazon rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the world. The region in its entirety is home to roughly 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and…