GeoLog

Policy

Geosciences Column: Africa’s vulnerability to climate change

February 3, 2017
Climate change is set to hit the nations of the Global South the hardest.
Climate change is set to hit the nations of the Global South the hardest. Masai life . Credit: Jaap Berghuijs (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Ravaged by armed conflicts, a deep struggle with poverty, poor governance and horizontal inequality, some parts of Africa and other Global South regions are arguably the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Largely reliant on natural resources for sustenance, current and future changes in temperatures, precipitation and the intensity of some natural hazards threaten the food security, ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: Have your say on Horizon 2020

January 11, 2017
GeoPolicy: Have your say on Horizon 2020
Feedback. Credit: Dennis Skley (distributed via flickr)

The European Union provides almost 75 billion euros of funding through the Horizon 2020 scheme. This money can fund research projects, studentships, post-doctorates and scientific outreach (to name but a few!). The EU is now calling for feedback and comments about the scheme. This month’s GeoPolicy explains how you can have your say.   Are you a PhD student funded by European Research Council ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Do coastlines have memories?

January 6, 2017
do coastlines have memories
Man O' War Cove Credit: Sarah Weick, (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu

Did you know that the shape of coastlines is determined by the angle at which waves crash against the shoreline. It has long been thought that fluctuations in the wave incidence angle are rapidly felt by coastlines, which change the shapes of their shores quickly in response to shifting wave patterns. Or do they? Researchers at the British Geological Survey, Duke University (USA) and Woods Hole Oc ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: A new vehicle emissions test to be introduced, say EU’s top scientists

December 14, 2016
Inspector testing vehicle emissions
Credit: John H. White, 1945-, Photographer (NARA record: 4002141) (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). Distributed via wikicommons.

Last year the European Commission appointed a panel of world leading scientists to advise on key science policy issues. In November, the panel issued their first recommendation report focusing on CO2 vehicle emissions. The month’s GeoPolicy post takes a closer look at this high-level advisory panel and the recommendations they have published.   In 2015, the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) w ...[Read More]