Publications

Persistent fossil fuel growth threatens the Paris Agreement and planetary health

Publication ID: pub.1123129142

Publication date: 04/12/2019

Keywords: Climate Change; Coal; CO2 Emissions; Energy; Fossil Fuels; Global; Global Warming; Oil and Natural Gas

Amidst declarations of planetary emergency and reports that the window for limiting climate change to 1.5 C is rapidly closing, global average temperatures and fossil fuel emissions continue to rise. Global fossil CO2 emissions have grown three years consecutively: 1.5 in 2017, 2.1 in 2018, and our slower central projection of 0.6 in 2019 (range […]

The blue-green path to urban flood resilience

Publication ID: pub.1123068944

Publication date: 02/12/2019

Keywords: Blue-Green Cities; Blue-Green Infrastructure; Carshalton, London; Ebbsfleet; Edinburgh; Flood Risk Management; Interoperability; Newcastle; Sustainable Drainage Systems; UK; Urban Flood Resilience

Abstract Achieving urban flood resilience at local, regional and national levels requires a transformative change in planning, design and implementation of urban water systems. Flood risk, wastewater and stormwater management should be re-envisaged and transformed to: ensure satisfactory service delivery under flood, normal and drought conditions, and enhance and extend the useful lives of ageing […]

Key drivers of cloud response to surface-active organics

Publication ID: pub.1122669822

Publication date: 18/11/2019

Keywords: Aerosol-cloud Interactions; Aerosol Particle; Climate Evolution; Climate Models; Cloud Microphysics; Cloud Optical Properties; Finland; Hyytiälä; Ireland; Mace Head; Radiative Forcing Estimates; Surface Phase; Surface Tension

Aerosol-cloud interactions constitute the largest source of uncertainty in global radiative forcing estimates, hampering our understanding of climate evolution. Recent empirical evidence suggests surface tension depression by organic aerosol to significantly influence the formation of cloud droplets, and hence cloud optical properties. In climate models, however, surface tension of water is generally assumed when predicting […]

Evolutionary diversity is associated with wood productivity in Amazonian forests

Publication ID: pub.1122472351

Publication date: 11/11/2019

Keywords: Amazon Forest; Ecosystem; Forests; Phylogeny; Tropical Climate; Wood

Higher levels of taxonomic and evolutionary diversity are expected to maximize ecosystem function, yet their relative importance in driving variation in ecosystem function at large scales in diverse forests is unknown. Using 90 inventory plots across intact, lowland, terra firme, Amazonian forests and a new phylogeny including 526 angiosperm genera, we investigated the association between […]

Large changes in Great Britain’s vegetation and agricultural land-use predicted under unmitigated climate change

Publication ID: pub.1121408409

Publication date: 29/10/2019

Keywords: Arable Production; Great Britain (GB); RCP8.5; Unmitigated Climate Change; Vegetation Productivity

The impact of climate change on vegetation including agricultural production has been the focus of many studies. Climate change is expected to have heterogeneous effects across locations globally, and the diversity of land uses characterising Great Britain (GB) presents a unique opportunity to test methods for assessing climate change effects and impacts. GB is a […]

Predicting hospital-onset Clostridium difficile using patient mobility data: A network approach

Publication ID: pub.1122136941

Publication date: 28/10/2019

Keywords: Clostridium Difficile Infections (CDI); Cross Infection; Disease Susceptibility; Humans; New York State; Patient Transfer; Predictive Value of Tests; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; US

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between unit-wide Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) susceptibility and inpatient mobility and to create contagion centrality as a new predictive measure of CDI. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: A mobility network was constructed using 2 years of patient electronic health record data for a 739-bed hospital (n = 72,636 admissions). Network […]