News 2019

Researchers probing the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs find evidence of wildfires and tsunami in the rocks at ground zero. An international team led by University of Texas and including Imperial College London researchers analysed more than 130 metres of rock that had built up over just one day - the day after the asteroid struck.

From decarbonising heat to food security and water sustainability, we're working to bring about improvements that will benefit nature and the well-being of the planet. Durham's research is having an impact on the environment and potentially all of our lives. In fact, it's hard to imagine a more important research focus for us than the environment given that all life depends upon it.

Researchers show that carbon taxes alone cannot reduce emissions enough to reach the Paris Agreement targets. The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, requires nations to collectively limit global warming to 2°C by 2100, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.

Newly available archival film has revealed the eastern ice shelf of Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is melting faster than previous estimates, suggesting the shelf may collapse sooner than expected.

Digitised archival film has revealed part of Thwaites Glacier is melting faster than thought, suggesting the shelf may collapse sooner than expected. Newly digitised vintage film has doubled how far back scientists can peer into the history of ice in Antarctica, and revealed that an ice shelf on Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is being thawed by a warming ocean more quickly than previously thought.

The Earth's carbon cycle is crucial in controlling the greenhouse gas content of our atmosphere, and ultimately our climate. Ice sheets which cover about 10 percent of our Earth's land surface at present, were thought 20 years ago to be frozen wastelands, devoid of life and with supressed chemical weathering - irrelevant parts of the carbon cycle.

A new review of silicon cycling in glacial environments, led by scientists from the University of Bristol, highlights the potential importance of glaciers in exporting silicon to downstream ecosystems. This, say the researchers, could have implications for marine primary productivity and impact the carbon cycle on the timescales of ice ages.

Researchers from GW4 universities Bristol and Cardiff assessed the performance of the GW4 Alliance Isambard supercomputer using an open-source Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) code. The research team consisted of Unai Lopez Novoa, Data Innovation Research Institute; Pablo Ouro Barba, Cardiff School of Engineering; Dr James Price, University of Bristol and Professor Simon McIntosh Smith, the principal investigator for the Isambard project and a professor of high-performance computing at the University of Bristol.

Europe has the capacity to produce more than 100 times the amount of energy it currently produces through onshore windfarms, new analysis from the University of Sussex and Aarhus University has revealed. In an analysis of all suitable sites for onshore wind farms, the new study reveals that Europe has the potential to supply enough energy for the whole world until 2050.

A new way to 'take the pulse' of carbon emissions could help track how the industrial development of peatlands contributes to climate change, as well as measure their recovery once development ends. In a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of researchers led by the University of Glasgow discuss how they have used carbon-14 dating to determine for the first time the age of carbon dioxide being released from peatland sites.

By analysing 138 experiments, researchers have mapped the potential of today's plants and trees to store extra carbon by the end of the century. The results show trees and plants could remove six years of current emissions by 2100, but only if no further deforestation occurs. The study, led by Stanford University and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and including Imperial College London researchers, is published today .

Largescale 'disturbances', including fires, harvesting, windstorms and insect outbreaks, which kill large patches of forest, are responsible for more than a tenth of tree death worldwide, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. The research also showed wide regional variation, with parts of Scandinavia, the USA, Canada and Russia having a particularly high frequency of these disturbances.

New research suggests groundwater in Africa could be resilient to climate change Groundwater - a vital source of water for drinking and irrigation across sub-Saharan Africa - may be relatively resilient to climate variability and change, according to a new study involving the University of Sussex. Groundwater, water present beneath the Earth's surface, plays a central role in sustaining water supplies and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa due to its widespread availability, generally high quality, and intrinsic ability to buffer episodes of drought and increasing climate variability.

Killings of environmental defenders doubled between 2002 and 2017, with the number of recorded deaths now similar to those of war zones, according to a new paper co-authored by a University of Sussex Research Fellow. Using data from watchdog NGO Global Witness , the new paper has revealed that, between 2002 to 2017, recorded deaths of environmental defenders increased from two to four a week.

Retreating sea ice in the Arctic is altering the gut bacteria of polar bears, potentially holding negative implications for the long-term health of the species, finds a new study by Cardiff University and the United States Geological Survey. Polar bears are one of the most ice-dependent marine mammals in the Arctic and are key indicators of Arctic ecosystem health and environmental change.

Surface science can make a big difference to our health, well-being and environment. Our surface scientists at Durham have been working on a whole range of applications that have already changed our lives in some way (think mobile phones and puddles) and could make a real difference to people around the world, particularly in developing countries.

A consortium of 32 scientists from across Africa and beyond carried out the research amplified by climate change. Groundwater plays a central role in sustaining water supplies and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa due to its widespread availability, generally high quality, and intrinsic ability to buffer episodes of drought and increasing climate variability.

Air quality in the US may be linked with increased mortality and reduced life expectancy according to new research. The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine and led by Imperial College London and the Center for Air, Climate and Energy Solutions at Carnegie Mellon University , analysed concentrations of fine particles in the air, called PM2.5, across all counties in the contiguous USA (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) between 1999 and 2015.

Top male biathletes are more attractive to the opposite sex, according to a new study by scientists at the universities of Exeter and Bristol. This result, say the team, fits with the theory that women have an evolved preference for more athletic men, who in past times were better able to provide for their families.

A University of Sussex professor has helped draw up new guidance to aid European policymakers in making better informed decisions on issues of complex scientific evidence. Professor Andy Stirling has contributed to the new report Making Sense of Science by Science Advice for Policy by European Advisors (SAPEA) which brings together outstanding expertise in engineering, humanities, medicine, natural and social sciences from over 100 academies, young academies and learned societies across Europe.