In many countries, access to clean and safe to drink water is often taken for granted: the simple act of turning a tap gives us access to a precious resource. In today’s post,Bárbara Zambelli Azevedo, discusses how over population of coastal areas and a changing climate is putting ready access to freshwater supplies under threat. Water is always moving downwards, finding its way until it ge ...[Read More]
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 four weeks: If we want to solve the world’s problems, we need all the world’s scientists. Social Entrepreneur Nina Dudnik speaks out against prejudice towards scientists in the developing world ...[Read More]
There are few, if any, fields of human study for which fieldwork is more fundamental than geology. For many geologists, the solid earth itself is their subject, and this means observations can be made at any given location on the planet. Moreover, the local quirks of different environments almost necessitate a diverse range of study sites for us to fully comprehend the differing processes that gov ...[Read More]
As has been previously discussed in Robert’s blog, fertile soil is an incredibly important resource that is fast running out in many regions of the world. It is true that soil’s importance for agriculture (and sustainable development) cannot be understated, but I wish to focus on another aspect of soil in this week’s blog– its ability to store carbon. One soil type in particular, peat, is an incre ...[Read More]
Take a look and try to identify anything around you that has phosphorus as a component. Phosphorus – the P element – is critical for life, like oxygen, nitrogen and carbon, being present in every plant, animal and bacteria. It constitutes cell walls, DNA, RNA and ATP, which transports energy to the brain. Our bones and teeth include phosphorus. Now look again and you might see that pho ...[Read More]
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 four weeks: Bali’s Mount Angung started erupting ash this month, and a post on the Pacific Disaster Center’s website gives you an insight into the workings of Indonesia’s early ...[Read More]
Kindly hosted and supported by the Geological Society of London, our 5th Annual Conference had the theme “Cities – Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Development”. The event gathered more than 130 participants, with diverse speakers from the public and private sectors, academia and civil society! Find resources online . Thanks to Jesse Zondervan (Plymouth University) fo ...[Read More]
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]
One of the most common questions faced by the disaster risk reduction community relates to earthquake prediction (see this Geological Society briefing on prediction vs. forecasting). The disaster risk reduction community, however, would perhaps argue that improved buildings, reduction in poverty, and improved governance are a greater priority than predicting earthquakes. Even so, there are still m ...[Read More]
The importance of access to safe drinking water in our lives is quite obvious. Although its relation with gender equality and sustainable development may be less so. In this article, Bárbara Zambelli Azevedo explores the relationship between the two and discusses what geoscientists can do to improve the situation. In 2017, according to the WHO, over 2.1 billion people still don’t have access to sa ...[Read More]