Can we leave plastic in the past?
Isabelle Goddard discusses the harmful effects of microplastics in our oceans and even in below the surface of the Earth, as well as what needs to be done to limit their future damage to the environment.
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How to fight climate despair
While institutions across the world are accepting the need for climate action, for individuals who have read a constant stream of “climate doomism” for years it’s becoming too much. Nell Miles tells us how to fight this climate despair.
Fishing Through Geological Time
By Matthew Sutton This article was originally published in The Oxford Scientist Michaelmas Term 2021 edition, Change. Earth’s oceans are an immense and foreboding place. They occupy 71% of the surface area of the planet and have a total volume exceeding 1.3 billion cubic kilometres. Occupying every corner of every part of this gargantuan biome…
Using Artificial Intelligence to create the Shazam of Ocean Sounds
In recent years, the use of underwater microphones called hydrophones has allowed scientists to listen in on the underwater world in a non-invasive way. Passive acoustic monitoring has already been used in various biological studies, such as documenting the distribution and migration of whales and characterising the responses of fish to environmental changes.
Extreme weather in the UK – will it become the norm?
Will storms like Eunice and Franklin become our normal weather? Emma M Ford writes about the impact of climate change on extreme weather events in the UK.
The North-South Divide exists in paper wasps too
Sophie Berdugo explores the distinct north-south divide in paper wasps, with northerners being highly cooperative compared to southerners.
Big trouble for little plankton: New studies report on the oceanic effects of climate change
By Natalie Stevenson A recent study highlights the vulnerability of ocean ecosystems to the effects of climate change. Over the past few years, the impact that humans have had on the planet has been at the forefront of public attention—we have seen record-breaking wildfires, droughts, flooding, and storms globally—and we are very much aware that…
Diseases in the Jungle: How Habitat Destruction Could Lead To Future Pandemics
Video Credit: Andrea Vale As the number of vaccinated people steadily increases, it seems that each day brings us closer to a return to some sense of normality. However, as unprecedented as the current COVID-19 pandemic has been, it is by no means the first disease to wreak havoc upon humanity and, if we fail…
The Future of Plastic Pollution
When they first become widespread in the 1950s, plastics were heralded as a miracle material which can be used for almost everything. From life-saving medical devices to the clothes you’re wearing now, plastic has become integrated into every aspect of our daily lives. It’s hard to imagine a world without it. Images of so-called wildlife…
Bees: Master Manipulators of Plants
Admired both for their honey and complex societies, theologians and naturalists throughout the ages have looked to bees for inspiration. Every generation has found a virtue in the bee. Religious scholars praised bees for their tireless industry and the precision of the hexagonal cells used to build their hives, a gift from the divine. Darwin…