Each month, Jesse Zondervan picks his favourite posts from geoscience and development blogs/news which cover the geology for global development interest. Here’s a round-up of Jesse’s selections for the last month:
In the late afternoon of 16 February people in Mexico City celebrate Chinese New Year when they hear an earthquake alarm. If you ever wondered what it is like to experience an earthquake, you should watch the videos in Austin Elliot’s The Trembling Earth blog. What do people do in the 78 seconds of earthquake early warning?
Next to stories on risk of landslide-induced floods in Papua New Guinea, the cost of waiting for a volcanic eruption to happen and other disaster risk discussion, this month is full of good articles on sustainability:
Earth has environmental limits, can we all live a good life in it?
Dan O’Neill from the University of Leeds notes that to achieve social thresholds, countries have needed to exceed multiple biophysical boundaries. He asks how we can ever live well within our planet’s natural boundaries and what this means for sustainable development.
Professor Steve Cohen at Columbia University’s Earth Institute sees a trend that may help with this sustainability problem. An increasing number of young people are drawn to sustainability education and the role of the sustainability professional is emerging. Steve argues these sustainability professionals must be scientifically literate and focus on the physical world.
More in this month, entrepreneurs start seeing opportunities in predicting climate change risks, geologists have found rock containing plastic, and a new massive open online course (MOOC) encourages its students to play a disaster risk reduction game.
As always, there’s a lot to read this month. This time I highlighted in bold the articles I think you should read first, so go ahead!
Sustainability
Is it possible for everyone to live a good life within our planet’s limits? By Dan O’Neill at The Conversation
The Emerging Sustainability Professional by Steve Cohen at State of the Planet
What does climate change hold in store for European cities? Creating a guidebook for the future & Envisioning climate-friendly cities at Future Earth
Geopolicy: Combating plastic pollution – research, engagement and the EU Plastic Strategy by Chloe Hill at EGU’s GeoLog blog
How can studying the past, such as life in Maya cities, help the world to solve modern problems? See ‘Creating a guidebook to the future’ Credit: VoY-TeC (distributed via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)
Climate Change Adaptation
What Land Will Be Underwater in 20 Years? Figuring It Out Could Be Lucrative by Brad Plumer at The New York Times
Why scientists have modelled climate change right up to the year 2300 by Dmitry Yumashev at The Conversation
Can Soil Help Combat Climate Change? By Renee Cho at State of the Planet
The Challenges of Drought Prediction by Zengchao Hao at Eos
What are the challenges of drought prediction? Credit: PublicDomainPictures/18042 images (distributed via Pixabay [CC0 1.0])
New Massive Open Online Course on Natural Disasters at Eos
Citizen outreach and river education in India by Beth Fisher at Little River Research
The Complex Interface between the Public and Science by Cary Funk at Scientific American
Volcanic risk
Rehearsing for eruptions by Jessica Ball at the AGU’s Magma Cum Laude
The Costs Of Waiting For A Volcano To Erupt by Dr Peter Ward at Forbes
Earthquake risk
78 seconds of Earthquake Early Warning by Austin Elliot at the AGU’s The Trembling Earth
Damage Assessment by Laser Could Focus Postearthquake Response by Laura G Shields at Eos
How do you plan for volcanic hazards? How much does it cost? Credit: Kanenori/260 images (distributed via Pixabay [CC0 1.0]).
An emerging crisis? Valley blocking landslides in the Papua New Guinea highlands by Dave Petley at the AGU’s The Landslide Blog
Creeping danger: Landslide threatens Peruvian village, especially when the earth quakes by Jane Palmer at Earth Magazine
Geophysicists and atmospheric scientists partner to track typhoons’ seismic footprints at Science Daily
UN launches effort to collect data on disaster losses at UNISDR
External Opportunities
Online Course Environmental Justice starts 12 March at Earth System Governance
Call for Papers – 2018 Utrecht Conference on Earth System Governance at Earth System Governance
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Seeks Interns for Summer 2018 at State of the Planet
New and Returning Employers at All Ivy Career Fair Indicate Growth in the Sustainability Job Market at State of the Planet
Check back next month for more picks!
Follow Jesse Zondervan on Twitter: @JesseZondervan.
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