The atmosphere’s growing thirst for water is making droughts more severe, even in places where rainfall has stayed the same. New research by Dr Solomon H. Gebrechorkos and Prof Simon Dadson et al in SoGE, published in Nature, finds that this “thirst” has made droughts 40% more severe across the globe.
News
Fun Kids Science Weekly podcast: Professor David Thomas on why geomorphology is the best kind of science
The Battle of the Sciences continues as Professor David Thomas from the School of Geography and the Environment talks to the Fun Kids Science Weekly podcast about why geomorphology is the best kind of science.
IN THE MEDIA
Dr Chloë Strevens and Dr Laurence Wainwright win Divisional Teaching Excellence Awards 2024
The Divisional Teaching Awards formally recognize the outstanding contribution to teaching and learning and the academic development of students shown by colleagues across the Social Sciences Division.
NEWS
Navigating Polar Change: Climate-Smart Marine Spatial Planning for the Southern Ocean
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
Floods in south Brazil have displaced 600,000 – here’s why this region is likely to see ever more extreme rain in future
A mighty river is flowing out of the Amazon rainforest, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of. In the first kilometre above the forest canopy, a “flying river” is transporting moisture evaporated from Amazonian trees southwards along the Andes mountains towards Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil. Almost the entire state - an area larger than the UK - is currently affected by unprecedented floods. The flying river has acted like a firehose, fuelling five months of rainfall in just two weeks, further enhanced by a strong jetstream located in just the wrong position above the region. In an article for The Conversation, Dr Marcia Zilli, Dr Neil Hart, and colleague Dr Caio Coelho, explore why - based on future projections of climate change - this situation will likely get worse as the temperature rises.
IN THE MEDIA
Alfie Davis wins LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year Award
Undergraduate Alfie Davis has been awarded the LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year Award 2024.
NEWS
Celebrating Excellence: Vice-Chancellor’s Awards Honour Outstanding Achievements in SoGE
The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards are a testament to excellence and innovation, and are a University-wide celebration of outstanding people. They recognise the achievements and celebrate success across the collegiate University, from academics and researchers to professional, technical and support staff.
NEWS
MASIKA: A field campaign to understand the rains in East Africa
Following devastating floods in 2020, five successive failed rainy seasons caused drought which exposed millions of people to acute food shortages in East Africa. The field project, MASIKA, is the first of its kind and aims to understand the atmospheric processes operating at the start the rainy season.
NEWS
Kelsey Monteith wins the Alfred Steers Dissertation Prize
2023 undergraduate Kelsey Monteith has won the Alfred Steers Dissertation Prize for her dissertation titled, 'Time is not our master. I will not bow to time on this fair.' Examining practices of cultural resistance in the Gypsy-Traveller community. The prize is awarded once per year by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) for the best undergraduate dissertation in a UK geography department.
NEWS
Dust storms are becoming ‘more frequent and severe’ – so are we prepared?
As a haze from the Sahara envelops Athens, Professor David Thomas, speaks to The Telegraph to explain why dust storms are becoming a worrying global trend.
IN THE MEDIA
Don’t blame Dubai’s freak rain on cloud seeding – the storm was far too big to be human-made
Parts of the Arabian Peninsula received 18 months of rainfall in 24 hours on the 16 April. In an article for The Conversation, Professor Richard Washington, Professor of Climate Science, explains why Dubai's recent unprecedented rainfall was not caused by cloud seeding.
IN THE MEDIA
