Planet Earth - Summer 2002
The following is a summary of the contents of this issue. We apologise that it is not
available as downloadable PDF files nor in print.
Money and strategic priorities
Together with our community we will deliver science for a
sustainable future says NERC Chief Executive, John Lawton.
Halfway house for seabirds
Seabird ecologists and the RSPCA are running a guesthouse
for guillemots damaged by ocean oil spills to help them survive release back
into the wild.
New light on Earth and environmental sciences
Synchrotron technology illuminates environmental sciences.
A dirty planet is a happy planet
Not many of us like a dusty home but Andy Ridgwell explains
how the dust circulating round our planet keeps it healthy.
Dam busting
Why we shouldn't always dam the floods. Mike Acreman
explains.
The big book versus the big bang
Creationism is a matter of faith and must only be taught as
such, writes David Falvey.
NERC 20/20 vision
A new series of interviews with NERC scientists about their
careers. In this issue Mike Siva-Jothy, an insect physiologist, tells Nina
Morgan how he got the bug.
Clouds: do they obscure the forecast?
Apparently when it comes to forecasting global warming we
really don't know clouds at all. Anthony Illingworth and Robin Hogan
explain.
Squids in
Squids can fly! And they can also help scientists plan a
sustainable squid harvest, writes marine ecologist, Cathy Goss.
Oral history
A wealth of information can be gleaned from our mouths even
when we are long dead. NERC scientists get their teeth into it.
The carbon trap: going underground
Storing carbon dioxide underground could radically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Nick Riley argues it appears to be safe and cost
effective and suggests urgent action.
Putting science to work
Where there's muck there's brass. Claire Donkin, an
agriculture undergraduate, is working with a Lincolnshire company to put
environmental science to commercial use.
The graduate with the golden lining
Michael McLoughlin is another graduate whom, with help from
NERC, has made the transition form Academia to industry.
Secrets of the garden
It's a BUGS life in Sheffield where garden owners and
scientists on the NERC URGENT programme are studying wildlife in Britain's
gardens.