Carbon dioxide is without a doubt the most famous of warming culprits. But would reducing emissions of this greenhouse gas be enough to mitigate climate change within this century? A recent paper published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics focuses on a less known substance that, if phased out, could avoid as much as 0.5 °C …[Read More]
Latest posts
Friday Photo (87): Wildlife in the Field – Lizards at Cape Point
A lizard chills out in the sunshine at Cape Point – the southernmost tip of the African continent. There is nothing between here and Antarctica. (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
Geosciences Column: Just a drop in the ocean – river nutrients and Arctic plankton
The oceans are a big contributor to the global carbon cycle, with phytoplankton taking up carbon through photosynthesis and incorporating it into their shells. When these organisms die their shells sink and make a calcareous contribution to seafloor sediments. Of course, with the formation of limestone, this carbon is locked out of the atmosphere for …[Read More]
GfGD Blog Competition 2013
Following the success of the Geology for Global Development blog competition 2012, we’d like to invite you to join our ‘GfGD Blog Competition 2013’. This is a great opportunity to write about a topic that you love, and to put science communication into practice. Clear communication, particularly of complex scientific problems, is a skill that is highly …[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #38
This photo is a bit of a change of pace. This past weekend I was at the cottage (Garden Island, just outside of Kingston, Ontario) and was lucky enough to get pretty close to a Northern Water Snake that slithered over our swimming area. It later approached my girlfriend with a fish in his mouth …[Read More]
Looking ahead to the summer…
The sunshine is out, we have our first male singles Wimbledon Champion in 77 years, and the smell of BBQs is wafting through our windows – it is officially summertime! Over the summer the GfGD blog is going to be busy, with a range of interesting articles. As normal, we’ll still be publishing articles on Mondays and Wednesdays, with our …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Getting a handle on Greenland’s glaciers
The picture below shows several small glaciers surrounding the Greenland ice sheet, in Tassilaq, near Kulusuk, East Greenland. The dark lines are glacial moraines, responsible for the transport of rock material from mountains towards sea. The photographer, Romain Schläppy, highlights that “an important scientific topic consists to place the recent and ongoing Greenland warming in …[Read More]
Friday Photo (86): Wildlife in the Field – the Rock Hyrax
This little guy (can you spot him?!) is a Dassie, or “Rock Hyrax” – a familiar friend to many geologists in the field. These animals live in groups among large fallen blocks of rock, and will pop their heads up periodically to keep an eye on you as you go about your fieldwork. They can …[Read More]
Dust in the desert: The Kuiseb and Tschaub Rivers – part 2 of 3
The dust in the desert series continues this week as James King shares his experience of fieldwork in Nambia… Our base of operations is located in Swakopmund, a sea-side town of German heritage. This has two benefits: pastries and unrivalled hardware stores. The amount of supplies (hardware, not cake) that this sleepy Namibian town has …[Read More]
GeoTalk: Suzanne Hangx on Carbon Capture & Storage
Today in GeoTalk, we’re talking to Suzanne Hangx, who explains the great potential of carbon capture and storage and the challenges emerging technologies, like CCS, face. First, could you introduce yourself and let us know what drew you to geomechanics? Let’s start with the introduction: I’m Suzanne Hangx and I currently work as a researcher …[Read More]