COP21: Major climate deal agreed in Paris

  A landmark agreement to limit global temperature rises to below 2 °C has been announced After two intensive weeks of debate the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) drew to a close on 12th December with a new climate deal on the table. The ambitious global agreement commits the 195 participating parties to hold…
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Using lasers to map forest carbon

Forests cover approximately 4 billion hectares of the Earth's surface, equivalent to a third of it's total land area.  According to the WWF, between 12-15 million hectares of forests are lost every year due to human impacts, such as deforestation.  It is estimated that forest loss is responsible for around 15% of global carbon emissions.…
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Insecticide threat to aquatic biodiversity highlighted in new study

Insecticides can be beneficial to humans in many ways, such as providing crop protection from disease and defoliation and as a tool used in the reduction of mosquitoes and other insects that can transmit diseases such as malaria, to humans.  However, once they enter an aquatic system, the environmental costs can be very high.  Just…
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Climate of changing public opinion

This week is Climate Week in the UK, which aims to get the public involved in thinking about climate change. In the scientific community, there is an increasing level of consensus about climate change and the need to take drastic action to limit severe consequences. However, in order to introduce challenging policies, there must be…
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