The Southern Ocean, key to Earth's environmental system, is threatened by climate change. A new paper in Science by Dr Catarina Frazão Santos, Dr Lisa Wedding, and colleagues, details how climate-smart marine spatial planning can support Antarctic seascapes, with implications for the global ocean and human wellbeing.
News
New funding to improve water security for 10 million people in Africa and Asia by 2024
New funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will support global research and practice to improve water security for 10 million people in Africa and Asia, through Oxford University's REACH programme led by SoGE and the Smith School.
Coronavirus: Is the cure worse than the disease? The most divisive question of 2020
Danny Dorling considers experts' current and changing beliefs of how best to manage the pandemic and where the balance of advantages and disadvantages lies in his latest article for The Conversation.
Laura Antona awarded ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to support migrant shelters in Southeast Asia
Laura Antona has been awarded an 18-month postdoctoral fellowship by the ESRC to build on her doctoral research, which focusses on the experiences of migrant domestic workers who are no longer willing or able to work-for or live with their employers in Singapore.
People, not carbon emissions, should be at the heart of the west's climate action
In focusing on targets, activists from rich countries risk putting metrics above the lives of vulnerable people, says Aruna Chandrasekhar. Read in full via The Guardian.
Yadvinder Malhi Awarded CBE in Queen's Birthday Honour
Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Sciences at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, announced on 10th October 2020, for services to Ecosystem Science.
TED: Fossil fuel companies know how to stop global warming. Why don't they?
The fossil fuel industry knows how to stop global warming, but they're waiting for someone else to pay, says climate science scholar Myles Allen. Instead of a total ban on carbon-emitting fuels, Allen puts forth a bold plan for oil and gas companies to progressively decarbonize themselves and sequester CO2 deep in the earth, with the aim of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and creating a carbon dioxide disposal industry that works for everyone. This talk was presented at an official TED conference.
Shell slims down to shape up for the energy transition
The FT covers Royal Dutch Shell's net zero emissions strategy and plans. With comment from Ben Caldecott.
Oxford has wettest October day since rainfall records began in 1827
Oxford University researchers have recorded the wettest October day since daily rainfall records began at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station in January 1827. 60.0 mm of rainfall was observed in the rain gauge on Saturday 3rd October 2020, which was the sixth wettest day of the 70,000 days in the records, and the rainiest day in Oxford for over 47 years.
Amazon study shows big conservation gains possible for imperilled freshwater ecosystems
A new study, published in Science magazine by an international team in the Brazilian Amazon, shows that redesigned conservation projects could deliver big gains for critical freshwater ecosystems - raising hopes for the futures of thousands of species. 'In a time when the Amazon is under increasing pressure from human activities, this paper provides effective solutions for biodiversity preservation,' explains co-author Erika Berenguer.
Forbes: China Just Promised To Go Carbon Neutral By 2060
But how can China to achieve this goal? Yangsiyu Lu, researcher at the Smith School, suggests the country ought to focus on three key policy areas: coal, technology innovation in electricity generation, and nature-based solutions.