wire

The Greenland Ice Sheet is cracking open more rapidly as it responds to climate change. Dr Tom Chudley, in our Department of Geography, led a new large-scale study of crevasses - wedge-shaped fractures or cracks - on the world's second largest body of ice.

Scotland must do more to help hydropower facilities maximise their output and prevent negative impacts on wildlife in the face of the challenges posed by climate change, according to a new report.

Impact of cleaner air means that human-emitted methane needs to fall more sharply to hit globally agreed targets Reducing sulphur in the air may inadvertently increase natural emissions of methane from wetlands such as peatlands and swamps, a new study has found. The findings published today in the journal Science Advances suggests that the decline of global sulphur emissions as the result of clean air policies, coupled with the warming and fertilization effects of carbon dioxide emissions lifts a lid on wetland methane production resulting in increased emissions.

Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham have uncovered a huge expanse of quarry floor filled with hundreds of different dinosaur footprints.

New research has provided fresh insights into the dramatic events surrounding the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The extinction of the Dinosaur was a tumultuous time that included some of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, as well as the impact of a 10-15 km wide asteroid.

Two massive asteroids hit Earth around 35.65 million years ago, but did not lead to any lasting changes in the Earth's climate, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The rocks, both several miles wide, hit Earth about 25,000 years apart, leaving the 60-mile (100km) Popigai crater in Siberia, Russia, and the 25-55 mile (40-85km) crater in the Chesapeake Bay, in the United States - the fourth and fifth largest known asteroid craters on Earth.

As the UN meets this week to finalise the Global Plastics Treaty, researchers warn that the agreement could fail to address one of the biggest threats to marine environments-microplastics.

The world's snow and ice regions are at risk of irreversible loss and damage. The warning was made in a new report from an international team of more than 50 leading cryosphere scientists, including Professor Chris Stokes in our Department of Geography.

Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees' ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience , an international group of scientists, including from the University of Cambridge,  argue that tree planting at high latitudes will accelerate, rather than decelerate, global warming.

Our researchers have explored how Arctic marine species could be impacted by climate change and rising sea temperatures in the future.

Antarctica's rapidly receding sea ice could have a negative impact on the food supply of seabirds that breed hundreds of miles away from the continent.

Writing in The Conversation, Professor Graham Sheilds and Elias Rugen (both UCL Earth Sciences) discuss their discovery of rocks proving the polar ice caps once expanded so far they joined up around the equator. More than 700 million years ago, the Earth was plunged into a state that geologists call  "snowball Earth" , when our planet was entirely encased in ice.

Two new interdisciplinary research projects investigating how to prepare for epidemics and volcanic eruption are receiving funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Dr Rob Ixer explains in The Conversation how his research found that Stonehenge's giant Altar Stone originated in north-east Scotland, No one is certain why Stonehenge was built.

A rock formation spanning Ireland and Scotland may be the world's most complete record of "snowball Earth", a crucial moment in planetary history when the globe was covered in ice, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

Abi Stone , The University of Manchester Dominic Stratford , University of the Witwatersrand Desert regions in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula have been well studied by archaeologists as the home of early humans and as routes of migration along " green corridors ".

Environmental evidence of the very first experiments in the evolution of complex life on Earth, has been uncovered by an international team of scientists. Until now, scientists broadly accepted animals first emerged on Earth 635 million years ago. But a team, led by Cardiff University, has discovered evidence of a much earlier ecosystem in the Franceville Basin near Gabon on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa over 1.5 billion years earlier.

Today, Lesotho has few natural lakes despite receiving some of the greatest rainfall in southern Africa.

A first-of-its-kind map of groundwater-dependent ecosystems has been developed by an international team of scientists. From desert springs, mountain meadows and streams to coastal wetlands and forests, the interactive resource maps these diverse ecosystems globally, offering insights into their protection status and how they overlap with human communities.

Writing in The Conversation, Professors Mark Maslin, David Thornalley and Dr Jack Wharton's (UCL Geography) new research has found the Gulf Stream, which carries warm water northwards through the Atlantic, was stronger and deeper 20,000 years ago than it is today. Twenty thousand years ago the world was locked into  a great ice age.

UCL geophysicists installed nine seismometers around Wembley Park ahead of Taylor Swift's first Eras concerts in London and found that the opening night performance of 'Love Story' produced the strongest ground tremors.

As the longest day of the year approaches on June 20th, researchers at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are looking ahead to the mental and physical challenges that people in Scotland can face as light diminishes after the summer solstice.

National Trust rangers planting Sphagnum moss at Kinder Scout, Derbyshire - credit National Trust Images, Paul Harris The latest restoration project builds on findings gained in a study carried out by

Professor Mark Maslin's (UCL Geography) research reveals that before northern Africa dried out, its climate "flickered" between two stable climatic states. In The Conversation he urges us to look out for signals of future climate tipping points. Around five and half millenia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation.

Professor Mark Maslin's (UCL Geography) research reveals that before northern Africa dried out, its climate "flickered" between two stable climatic states. In The Conversation he urges us to look out for signals of future climate tipping points. Around five and half millenia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation.

A three-year project involving UCL researchers will examine the principles and guidelines for responsible research into solar radiation modification (SRM) - a controversial idea to limit climate change by reducing how much sunlight reaches the Earth's surface.

On April 8, 2024, a remarkable natural phenomenon will captivate the world - a total solar eclipse.

Giant sequoia trees are becoming a resilient part of our landscape with an estimated half a million sequoias (wild and planted) in England, writes Professor Mat Disney (UCL Geography) in The Conversation.

Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during their long lives, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with colleagues at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Ethnic minority claimants living in rural areas of England are more likely to face sanctions when claiming Jobseeker's Allowance compared to their White counterparts. Academics from Cardiff University used Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) data to analyse the total number of sanction and referral decisions made in each local authority (LA) for different ethnic groups over a period of seven years.

Flaws in planning, design and construction processes that ignored established best practices were the root causes of most injuries and deaths in last year's Türkiye-Syria earthquakes, according to a new report by an international team, led by UCL and the University of Cambridge.