Around the world, societies have many different ways to define the seasons, but for most people a season is identified by a set of culturally specified events, such as the arrival of migratory birds, certain anticipated weather patterns, or a range of expected temperatures. Over recent years many studies have examined the various ways that anthropogenic climate change has affected the way that our ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: A drift of sea-snail shells
A collection of washed-up shells on a beach on the south island of New Zealand. Shore transport processes have produced a well-sorted drift of similarly sized (approx. 1-2 cm) shells and shell fragments. The main species represented are the common turret shell (Maoricolpus roseus) and wheel shell (Zethalia zelandica), both sea snails endemic to New Zealand. Description by Pontus Lurcock, af ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: Studying shell morphodynamics to improve climate models
Profile of a specimen of Arctica islandica, one of the longest lived marine bivalves known, undergoing a 3D scan. Their longevity is exploited for reconstruction of climate patterns in the North Atlantic. However, mathematical models of their morphodynamics are necessary to account for bias induced by their asymmetric growth (“morphodynamics” is the study of how an organisms’ gro ...[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Africa’s vulnerability to climate change
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]