Geology for Global Development

Plastic

Private solutions, public science: how to bridge the gap?

March 12, 2019
Private solutions, public science: how to bridge the gap?
Launching System 001 Credits: The Ocean Cleanup / Pierre Augier

The urgency around many sustainability issues leads some billionaire investors to throw caution in the wind, frustrated with the pace of academic research. Robert Emberson sympathises with private projects like the Ocean Cleanup, even when things go wrong. ‘How’, he asks, ‘might we build a constructive bridge between ambitious entrepreneurs and scientific sceptics? ‘ Reading and writing about sust ...[Read More]

The importance of wetlands

February 7, 2019
The importance of wetlands
Rice paddies in Phong Nha region, Vietnam (Nov 2018) - Photo: Bárbara Zambelli

World Wetlands day is celebrated on 2nd February, marking the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as Ramsar Convention, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2nd February 1971. It “provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.” Today 170 countries have adopted it and 2,341 Ramsar sites covering ...[Read More]

Jesse Zondervan’s January 2019 #GfGDpicks: which climate adaptation methods are on the rise in 2019?

February 5, 2019
Jesse Zondervan’s January 2019 #GfGDpicks: which climate adaptation methods are on the rise in 2019?
NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth, CC BY-ND 2.0)

Each month, Jesse Zondervan picks his favourite posts from geoscience and development blogs/news which cover the geology for global development interest. This past month’s picks include:  Why it’s so hard to predict tsunamis, which climate adaptation methods are on the rise in 2019 & opportunities for scientists to solve local challenges with Thriving Earth Exchange.   Plastic waste in t ...[Read More]

Robert Emberson: Microplastic – Too Important to Ignore

December 10, 2017

Anyone lucky enough to catch any of the BBC’s recent new series Blue Planet II will have noticed that each episode devotes a portion of the time to the impact humans have on the oceans. A breathtaking series of shots from a recent episode detailed the heart-wrenching demise of a baby whale, possibly poisoned by its mother’s milk due to toxins from plastic pollution. Vast quantities of plastic now ...[Read More]