Tag: climate change
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NASA’s First Nigerien Scientist
Fadij Maina (29) has become the first scientist from Niger, as well as the first African scientist, to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Maina earned her PhD in Hydrology in 2016, and joined the US space agency at the end of last month. She will be using mathematical models and data…
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Dissecting BP’s 2050 net-zero carbon pledge
Sami Cheqrouni Espinar examines the credibility of each of the aims outlined by BP to shift its position in a transforming energy sector. On the 12th of February 2020, BP set a company-wide ambition of achieving net-zero emissions by the year 2050. Bernard Looney, the current CEO of BP, stated, “the world’s carbon budget is…
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The sunscreen of the sea
Coral reefs are one of the most bountiful – and beautiful – ecosystems on the planet. These diverse, underwater rainforests host at least a quarter of all marine life, despite only occupying a tiny fraction of the ocean floor, and provide stability and filtration to our oceans and shores. However, in recent years more and…
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Growing evidence for climate change that sparked dawn of dinosaurs
During the Carnian Stage in the late Triassic Period, around 237 to 227 million years ago, three major events occurred: the Wrangellia eruptions, the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), and the emergence and diversification of dinosaurs. The Wrangellia eruptions, which formed the Wrangellia basalt floods in the eastern Panthalassic Ocean, were major tectonic events that caused…
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Feeling the heat: why the South Pole is warming up so quickly
The South Pole is one of the coldest and most remote regions on our planet. It is a polar desert of long and sunless winters, quasi-continuous frigid winds, and precious little wildlife or vegetation. But as distant and inaccessible as it may be, it is not so isolated that it is exempt from the changes…
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Has lockdown sparked a change in our energy habits?
We like to think that, as individuals, we are unique and original. In fact, as a group, we are utterly predictable. Monday through Friday, the majority of the UK population wakes up around 7, commutes, works 9 to 5, then jumps into evening traffic, and arrives home to make themselves some dinner and a nice…
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New evidence suggests climate change is affecting animal behavior
Weather and climate have a significant influence on life on Earth. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a specific time and place. It is described by several elements such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and clouds. Climate refers to the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area. When we talk about climate change,…
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A tale of two wildfires: the Amazon Rainforest and the Congo Basin
When NASA released satellite imaging of the Brazil forest fires on the 24th August, it quickly became apparent that Brazil was not the only country set alight. The image, taken from NASA’s Terra Satellite, displays red bands of fire in Brazil, around Bolivia’s border with Brazil and a large band across Central Africa. Emerging from…
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A review of 12 years to save the planet Earth
As stated in the Edinburgh Science Festival brochure, “In 2018, top environmental scientists issued a final call to save our planet from catastrophic climate change. They argued that ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’ are necessary to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” The…