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VolcanicDegassing

A Portmanteau of Natural Hazards

Last week, the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) launched an over-arching programme in Natural Hazards, a network called PURE (Probability, Uncertainty and Risk in the Environment). This post is a very short attempt to navigate the maze of acronyms of projects that are either linked to PURE, or to other related initiatives in Natural Hazards in the UK. PURE itself is a network ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

What can we Learn from the Great Eastern Japan Tsunami?

Over a year and a half on from the Great Eastern Japan Tsunami, and there are still boats lying overturned at the side of roads. Recovering from such a major national catastrophe is a slow process. We hope to be able learn from this tragedy and use it to lower vulnerability to future disasters, both in Japan and around the world’s coastlines. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake on the 11th March 2011 was ...[Read More]

VolcanicDegassing

Santiaguito Volcano: Ninety Years and Counting.

Santiaguito Volcano: Ninety Years and Counting.

Santiaguito volcano, Guatemala, burst into life in 1922 and is now the second longest continuing eruption. It has outlasted both Stromboli (Italy) and Sangay (Ecuador), both erupting since 1934, and is only outdone by Yasur (Vanuatu), which has been erupting at least since 1774, when first visited by Captain Cook. These long-lived eruptions give us an unusual opportunity to use the slowly-extruded ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

Going to This Year’s AGU Meeting?

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) convenes this week for their 45th annual fall meeting – the world’s largest international gathering of Earth scientists. Geoscientists from all around the world will be sharing their latest research and catching up with colleagues from other institutions. There will be plenty of talks relevant to GfGD. We’ve picked our highlights from the sche ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

Launch of Foresight Report: Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters.

Today the UK government released their highly anticipated foresight report into “Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters”. This report, led by the UK government’s chief scientific advisor, Sir John Beddington, looks at disasters in developing countries that have resulted from natural hazards. The aim has been ‘to provide advice to decision makers on how science can inform the ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

China: The Future Looks Bright…

China, one of the largest and most populated countries on Earth, is emerging as an economic superpower. More and more frequently, emerging economies are choosing to peg their currency to the Yuan, rather than the US dollar. Their success is built on a strong research and development sector. Having just come under new leadership, China is entering an exciting decade. On a recent trip to Xuzhou city ...[Read More]

Geology for Global Development

GfGD News: Student Forum with the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction

The ‘Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction’ (IRDR), headed up by Professor Peter Sammonds, is based at University College London (UCL). UCL’s GfGD University group hosted a student forum at the end of October in collaboration with the IRDR. This was a chance for students to engage with people from academic backgrounds and NGOs to share ideas on student placements in the development sector and ...[Read More]