Each month, Jesse Zondervan picks his favourite posts from geoscience and development blogs/news, relevant to the work and interests of Geology for Global Development . Here’s a round-up of Jesse’s selections for the past month:
How successful were people in the Neolithic and ancient times in adapting to climate change? Two contrasting stories emerged this month:
A new study from Past Global Changes (PAGES) suggests that abrupt shifts in climate caused by eruptions helped to trigger violent uprisings and other political upheaval in the Ptolemaic era. A more constructive message comes from the University of Plymouth, where researchers suggest we can learn from human behaviour during the last intense period of global warming.
Staying with the volcanic theme: David Bressan reports on the volcanic fatalities database published this month in the Journal of Applied Volcanology. What are the deadliest hazards associated with a volcano?
Further in the disaster risk reduction world, we see optical fibre strands underneath Stanford University used as an earthquake observatory. Meanwhile, earthquake apps bring more superpowers to your smartphone: learn how to use them in Andrew Alden’s post on the Oakland Geology blog.
I will finish with the question Anna Pujol-Mazzini poses: Could geoengineering the planet to curb climate change leave people in poor countries better – or worse – off?
A historical perspective:
- Volcanic eruptions linked to social unrest in Ancient Egypt by Daniel Strain at Future Earth
- Could the Neolithic Revolution offer evidence of best ways to adapt to climate change? At ScienceDaily
Sustainable cities
- These winning photos capture the future of sustainable cities by Xueman Wang at Sustainable Cities
- From Istanbul to Manila—different fault lines, similar challenges by Elif Ayhan at Sustainable Cities
Credit: Yanick Folly winner of the Sustainable Cities photo competition (http://tinyurl.com/y9jju98h)
Disaster Risk Reduction
- The Most Deadly Hazards Associated With A Volcano by David Bressan at Forbes
- Landquake: Landslide’s Seismic Signature and Its Role In Emergency Response by Gianvito Scaringi at Science Trends
- Geoscience communication: A smart investment by Terri Cook at EGU Blogs
- Earthquake apps and post-quake observations by Andrew Alden at Oakland Geology
- Stanford researchers build a ‘billion sensors’ earthquake observatory with optical fibers by Ker Than at Stanford
- What precursors foretold Greenland’s recent 100-meter tsunami? By Emily Underwood at Eos
- Closing the ‘seismic gap’ on tsunami risk by Robert Glasser at zilient.org
Climate Change Adaptation
- Geoengineering: As scientists ponder “hacking the climate,” poor countries are wary by Anna Pujol-Mazzini at Thomson Reuters Foundation
- Scientists identify hotspots of coastal risks in Latin America and the Caribbean at ScienceDaily
- Deutsche Bank Deploys Tool to Map Climate Investment Risks by Emily Chasan at Bloomberg Technology
- Swallowed by the Sea…Where coastal infrastructure and jobs meet climate change by Karin Erika Kemper at The World Bank
- Parched Kenya looks to a new water source: volcanoes by Kagondu Njagi at Thomson Reuters Foundation
Opportunities
- ESRC funded PhD studentships at the Tyndall Centre, UEA
- Applications open for EGU 2018 Science Journalism Fellowships (up to €5k)
Check back next month for more picks!
Follow Jesse Zondervan @JesseZondervan. Follow us @Geo_Dev & Facebook.
