The Earth’s surface temperatures can have a profound effect on the Earth’s ice sheets, the huge layers of ice thousands of metres thick that cover Greenland and Antarctica. Over the past few decades, satellites have monitored the changes of these icy landscapes, revealing that parts of Greenland and West Antarctica are melting. This is important as it contributes to sea level rise, which can have ...[Read More]
Citizen science: how can we all contribute to the climate discussion?
Until the turn of the 20th century, science was an activity practiced by amateur naturalists and philosophers with enough money and time on their hands to devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and the understanding of the natural world. Today, scientific research is an industry of its own, carried out by highly trained and specialised professionals in academic institutions and research la ...[Read More]
Towards a greener energy world?
Marion reports on the latest Grantham Institute for Climate Change special lecture by International Energy Agency Chief Economist Dr Fatih Birol. On January 29th, I attended the Grantham Institute for Climate Change special lecture by International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief Economist Dr Fatih Birol at Imperial College London. Dr Birol discussed the future of the world’s energy market and outlined ...[Read More]
Has climate change changed in the media?
Whether in a concerned, neutral, alarmist or sceptical tone, climate change is often reported in the media. But has the press approached this subject differently over the years? Marion Ferrat takes a look at the UK press coverage of the last two IPCC reports and investigates how the treatment of climate change has changed in British newspapers. Last week, polling expert Leo Barasi posted the resul ...[Read More]
What’s Geology got to do with it? 3 – Christmas! Part 2
Dear Readers, Welcome to the last Four Degrees post of 2013! I’m back home with family and here the Christmas festivities happen today, on Christmas eve. So before I focus my attention on wrapping my last present and stuffing the goose for our family meal, here is the second instalment of our Christmas special of ‘What’s Geology got to do with it’! What has geology got to d ...[Read More]
Snacking on climate
ClimateSnack is a new initiative for early-career climate scientists around the world to improve their writing and communication skills. Snackers get to write tasty climate blogs and discuss them in a friendly and interactive environment. Marion talked to three members of the Imperial College London group for the latest issue of GeoQ! Good written and oral communication skills are quickly becoming ...[Read More]
Radioactive waters
As the decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station begins, Marion Ferrat takes a look at how radioactive elements make their way to the world’s oceans – and how scientists can use them to study important processes that go on in our waters. Early last week, work began to remove spent fuel rods at the disused Fukushima Dai-ichi power station, more than two years after the plant su ...[Read More]
A momentous discovery deep below: Earth’s inner core
For the Accretionary Wedge blog festival with the theme of ‘Momentous Discoveries in Geology’, Marion Ferrat discusses how a pioneering lady discovered what lies deepest inside our planet. We know a lot about our planet today: its position in the solar system, its age, its composition and its internal workings and structure. Many laborious experiments, observations and hypotheses have helped scie ...[Read More]
Climate change: it’s just a matter of time!
Natural or man-made: what factors are responsible for the climate changes we are seeing today? Ahead of the release of the latest IPCC report next week, Marion Ferrat discusses the different factors affecting climate change and shows that who takes the blame all depends on timing… Over the past century, our planet’s climate system has been changing. Changes in the composition of the atmosphere, ho ...[Read More]
Melting, microbes and methane: Are we about to face a carbon apocalypse?
Marion Ferrat takes a look under the frozen layers of Arctic permafrost and discusses how these soils may come back to haunt us. The vast plains of Siberian or Canadian permafrost are a sight to behold. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles of frozen soils cover these lands, a cold and barren environment. In places, however, this permafrost is slowly melting away as a result of rising temperature ...[Read More]