Publications

Explaining Extreme Events of 2014 from a Climate Perspective

Publication ID: pub.1047493552

Publication date: 14/01/2016

Keywords: Anthropogenic Signals; Attribution Assessments; Climate Perspective; Extreme Events; Global; Human-caused Climate Change; Influence; Intensity; Likelihood; Models; Regional Risk; Research

Editors note: For easy download the posted pdf of the Explaining Extreme Events of 2014 is a very low-resolution file. A high-resolution copy of the report is available by clicking here. Please be patient as it may take a few minutes for the high-resolution file to download.

Using data insertion with the NAME model to simulate the 8 May 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash cloud

Publication ID: pub.1032353261

Publication date: 07/01/2016

Keywords: Atmospheric Dispersion; Data Insertion; Eyjafjallajökull; Grímsvötn; Iceland; Modeling; Northern Spain; Volcanic Ash

A data insertion method, where a dispersion model is initialized from ash properties derived from a series of satellite observations, is used to model the 8 May 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash cloud which extended from Iceland to northern Spain. We also briefly discuss the application of this method to the April 2010 phase of the […]

The potential for land sparing to offset greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture

Publication ID: pub.1048234183

Publication date: 04/01/2016

Keywords: Agriculture; Farming Practices; Food Demand; Food Waste; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Land Sparing; Land-use Change; Meat Consumption; Offset; Restored Habitats; Technical Mitigation Potential; UK

Reducing agricultural emissions during times of increasing food demand is a challenge. Research, using the UK as an example, now shows the technical mitigation potential of increasing agricultural yields, reducing farmed area and restoring habitats.

A 350‐million‐year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Publication ID: pub.1021018581

Publication date: 29/12/2015

Keywords: Ancestral State Reconstruction; Carboniferous; Conifer; Fire Adaptation; Fossil; Global; Permian; Plant-climate Interactions; Resprouting; Seasonality; Serotiny

Current phylogenetic evidence shows that fire began shaping the evolution of land plants 125 Ma, although the fossil charcoal record indicates that fire has a much longer history (>350 Ma). Serotiny (on-plant seed storage) is generally accepted as an adaptation to fire among woody plants. We developed a conceptual model of the requirements for the evolution of […]

Explaining the visible and the invisible: Public knowledge of genetics, ancestry, physical appearance and race in Colombia

Publication ID: pub.1043336669

Publication date: 23/12/2015

Keywords: Attitude; Bogotá; Colombia; Continental Population Groups; Focus Groups; Genetics, Population; Humans; Medellín; Physical Appearance, Body

Using data from focus groups conducted in Colombia, we explore how educated lay audiences faced with scenarios about ancestry and genetics draw on widespread and dominant notions of nation, race and belonging in Colombia to ascribe ancestry to collectivities and to themselves as individuals. People from a life sciences background tend to deploy idioms of […]

Modulation of outer bank erosion by slump blocks: Disentangling the protective and destructive role of failed material on the three‐dimensional flow structure

Publication ID: pub.1022918256

Publication date: 19/12/2015

Keywords: Bank Erosion; Bank Roughness; Cambodia; Mekong River; Near-bank Flow Fields; Slump Blocks

The three-dimensional flow field near the banks of alluvial channels is the primary factor controlling rates of bank erosion. Although submerged slump blocks and associated large-scale bank roughness elements have both previously been proposed to divert flow away from the bank, direct observations of the interaction between eroded bank material and the 3-D flow field […]