Riddles in the sand and scientific solutions reviewed in NERC's latest report
19 July 2007
What do the following have in common? The origins of the Earth's wobble (a change in the tilt of the Earth's inner core), the cause of coral bleaching (a virus that awakes as sea temperatures rise), the birth of an ocean (in the deserts of Ethiopia), the size of Soay sheep (climate-driven evolution), and the most conclusive proof yet of the causes of ice ages (variations in the Earth's orbit around the sun).
Any ideas?
The scientists who made all of these breakthroughs were funded or employed by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Their work, and the work of many other environmental researchers, appears in NERC's Annual Report, published today (19 July 2007).
NERC Chief Executive Professor Alan Thorpe said, "It has been a remarkable year for NERC and for environmental science in the UK. This Annual Report clearly demonstrates the breadth and depth of our work throughout the world.
"As well as unveiling new discoveries, helping to rebuild economies and finding solutions to the environmental problems we face today, our community has made substantial contributions to two major reports - the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment and the Stern Review on the economics of climate change. These are likely to form the basis of global climate change policy for the next decade."
NERC has also led on co-ordinating International Polar Year (over 50,000 people in 63 nations) and funded the development of a novel solution to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (feed marine algae with excess carbon dioxide - and also harvest the resulting natural product for the cosmetics industry). Information on these and many more outstanding scientific highlights can be found in the report.
Further information
NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215
Notes
1. For a copy of the report please contact the NERC press office on 01793 411727, or order online from the Annual Report page.
Press release: 27/07
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