Tag Archives: environment

Can Flying Go Green?

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Justin Rowlatt BBC journalist in front of a plane

Can Flying Go Green? Panorama, BBC One

With BBC Panorama questioning if airlines are doing enough to go green, the University of Bristol We are Engineering blog asked Bristol’s engineers how they’re making aviation greener. We republish a shortened version below.

Viewers of BBC’s Panorama programme Can Flying Go Green? last week would have seen how our passion for flying is warming the planet. Aviation is a major contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions, burning more fossil fuels per passenger than any other form of transport. In the show, Justin Rowlatt investigates how the airlines are trying to clean up their act, but what is being done outside of the commercial sector to make aviation greener? Here’s what our engineers are doing to pave the way to a greener future for the industry. Continue reading →

Putting algae and seaweed on the menu could help save our seafood

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File 20171213 27593 sfv3nk.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1Image: Shutterstock

If we have to feed 9.8 billion people by 2050, food from the ocean will have to play a major role. Ending hunger and malnutrition while meeting the demand for more meat and fish as the world grows richer will require 60% more food by the middle of the century.

But around 90% of the world’s fish stocks are already seriously depleted. Pollution and increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere, which is making the oceans warmer and more acidic, are also a significant threat to marine life. Continue reading →

Environments without Borders

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Research Without Borders 8-12 May A week long series of events showcasing the work of postgraduate students. Free tickets: bristol.ac.uk/research-without-borders

Blog authors (and panel members): Laura De Vito is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Geographical Sciences.  Carlos Gracida Juarez is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Biological Sciences.  Alice Venn is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Social Sciences and Law.  Erik Mackie is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Geographical Sciences, working together with the British Antarctic Survey, and kept up a blog during his recent fieldwork in Antarctica.

The effects of climate change vary hugely across political borders, and have wide-ranging impacts on different communities and environments. Climate policy responses must recognize this global interconnectedness, and integrate international cooperation with effective local action. This is why global treaties such as the Paris Agreement are so important in the fight against climate change, but individual nations must also do their bit to achieve the objectives set out in the agreement. In Environments without Borders (part of Research Without Borders), a panel debate hosted by Bristol Doctoral College and the Cabot Institute on Wednesday 10th May, we will discuss some of these issues, using examples from our research on particular challenges facing our global ocean and water environments.

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What does Trump mean for the environment?

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Ed Atkins, PhD student in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies

Ed Atkins, PhD student in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol

Several weeks ago, I was walking along Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. Through the noise of the traffic, the familiar shout of one man’s name could be heard. ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’ echoed across the street.  Somehow I had stumbled upon a ‘Brazilians for Trump’ rally. A group of 40 people stood on the pavement, clutching signs that read ‘Women for Trump’, ‘Jews for Trump’, ‘Gays for Trump’. This struck me; such demographics holding such signage represented for me a similar message to ‘trees for deforestation’.

Yet, the votes are in. The electoral tally has been made and one fact is obvious: Donald Trump’s popularity transcended demography. As, House Speaker, Paul Ryan has said, Trump “heard a voice out in this country that no one else heard. He connected in ways with people that no one else did. He turned politics on its head.”

By Map by Robert Simmon, based on data from Woods Hole Research Center. (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=76697) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

2011 map of the United States above-ground woody biomass with 66 ecoregions delineated, showing tons of trees and their forests by hectare. Based on the map and palette created by NASA’s Earth Observatory employee Robert Simmon. Credit – Robert Simmon NASA/Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Key here is not only Trump’s victory, but also how the Republican Party has been able to ride his coattails to majorities across both the Senate and the House of Representatives. In doing so, the Grand Old Party (GOP), working with Trump, will likely have the freedom to pursue their political agenda. As a result, the Republican platform, published at the 2016 National Convention, provides a number of clues of what we can expect from this new administration. Continue reading →

Reimagining the ocean – what do new marine conservation laws mean for people and nature?

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Dr Margherita Pieraccini, Lecturer in Law, Law School

Dr Margherita Pieraccini, Lecturer in Law, Law School

Do our seas need more environmental protection?

Are marine protected areas the right answer?

Who are or should be the actors furthering marine conservation and governance?

These questions are at the core of the Ecologies and Identities project carried out at the University of Bristol Law School and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The project looks at the law and policy behind the UK’s new marine protected area (MPA) network. It asks how marine protected areas and marine conservation zones are being implemented and who is getting a say in where they are placed and how they are managed. It asks what this means for the future of our seas and how they are used.

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