For the last 20 years robotic floats have drifted around our oceans and reported back their measurements every 10 days. Dr Alejandra Shanchez-Franks tells us about how they have revolutionised our understanding of the role of the oceans in climate change.
Observing how much impact climate change has on our oceans is important for human health and prosperity. Dr Beatriz Recinos Rivas explains how we measure sea surface temperatures (SST) from ships, ocean robots and from satellites orbiting the planet.
Climate change causes changes in ocean temperature, ocean acidification and deoxygenation, leading to changes in oceanic circulation and chemistry, rising sea levels, increased storm intensity, as well as changes in the diversity and abundance of marine species. We make observations of the sea water using a device called a Conductivity Temperature and Depth (CTD). Find out more from Dr Ben Moat.
Buzzzz! Fly into this interview with Andy Benson from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) as we shine a spotlight on the key differences between honeybees and bumblebees, explore why bumblebees are so important as pollinators in the UK’s ecosystems and highlight the fantastic work BCT are doing to help conserve our striped friends through citizen science projects like BeeWalk. You better BEE there!
Download the Bumblebee Conservatory Trust “Whats that Bumblebee” App below.
Join environmental activist Laura Young (also known as Less Waste Laura) as she shares tips and tricks on how to reduce waste and create a more sustainable future for our planet. Discover the inspiration behind her journey toward less waste and the positive impact individual actions can have on climate change. Includes Q&A session recorded during our February 2021 festival.
Watch a brand-new NERC funded animation about pollution and the citizen science project BiB Breathes, where children in Bradford have the opportunity to measure how much air pollution they’re exposed to on their way to and from school.
Join the team at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo for a Live tour of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros enclosure. Meet rhinos Qabid and Sanjay, learn about rhinos, how climate change is affecting them and how Edinburgh Zoo are saving these animals through their important conservation work in Scotland and around the world.
Join the team at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo for a Live tour of Koala Territory. Learn about koalas, how climate change is affecting them and how Edinburgh Zoo are saving these animals through their important conservation work in Scotland and around the world.
It’s not just polar bears and Arctic animals that are facing the threat of Climate Change, but animals in the Savannah too! Join GSC and WWF as we discuss the affects climate change will have on African species like sea turtles, mountain gorillas and African elephants.
It might be easy to see how Climate Change is affecting the polar regions but what about UK and Scotland? Join GSC and Sheila George, the Food and Environmental Policy Manager at WWF to discuss the effects Climate Change is having on our land, nature and communities.
With the ice melting in the Earth’s polar regions, Arctic communities are coming into more frequent contact with polar bears. Join Rhona Kent, a Polar Oceans Specialist, to explore how WWF are developing technology that helps to limit human and animal conflict in the Arctic
Air pollution and climate change are two very different issues, but like so many things on our planet they are also connected.
Kirsty Pringle from the University of Leeds, explains how air pollution affects children and how the BiB breaths projects aims to monitor children’s exposure to air pollution over a two year period.
Can you explain the link between Air Quality and Climate Change?
Air pollution and climate change are two very different issues, but like so many things on our planet they are also connected. Air pollution is the addition of chemicals into the atmosphere that can harm human health, whereas climate change is the addition of chemicals that can change the temperature of the planet.
Some of the pollutant chemicals that can damage our health can also affect the temperature, for example ozone pollution in towns and cities can cause breathing problems for humans, but it can also absorb radiation (similar to carbon dioxide) which will warm the atmosphere. So many of the chemicals that we emit in the atmosphere have a role to play in both air pollution and climate change.
On the other hand, climate change has the potential to affect the amount of air pollution, one example of this is that as the temperatures rise, wildfires are becoming more common, these can produce vast amounts of toxic smoke that can cause breathing difficulties.
What are the effects of air pollution on our health?
Air pollution is increasingly been shown to have a harmful effect in almost every organ of our bodies resulting in a range of diseases; it is thought to increase our chances of getting lung disease, heart disease, dementia and diabetes. More recently, there have also been studies that linked air pollution to levels of obesity and poor mental health. The mechanisms for these health effects are still not fully understood, but it is thought that exposure to air pollution causes stress to our bodies, which seems to speed up the ageing of our lungs and other organs, thus making us more susceptible to disease. It’s an area of science where new discoveries are being made really rapidly, so in a few years I’m sure we will know a lot more.
Can you tell us about the BiB breathes project?
The project is really exciting, there is increasing evidence that a significant fraction of the air pollution exposure in children happens during the school run, but it is tricky to know when and why exposure occurs. To address this, we are running a research project where we will train over 100 children across 12 schools in Bradford to be Citizen Scientists and take their own measurements of air pollution. The project will run over two years with children taking regular measurements throughout this time.
Why is Bradford a good city for this study?
Air pollution levels in Bradford are quite high, so in just over a year’s time a Clean Air Zone will be introduced in the city, this should reduce concentrations of pollution. Because our study runs for a year before and a year after the Clean Air Zone is introduced, the measurements from our citizen scientists should be able to tell us whether the Clean Air Zone has made a real change to the amount of pollution the children are breathing.
The BiB breathes project focuses on children and the air pollutants they are exposed to, are the effects of air pollution worse in children?
Unfortunately, yes, in addition to causing illness, the pollution can affect the children’s physical development. Children breath more frequently than adults, so more air passes in and out of their bodies (for their size). Because children are still growing air pollution can change how they grow. A recent study in London found that children who lived in areas with a lot of air pollution had smaller lungs than those living in cleaner areas (5% reduction in lung volume).
Children are also often exposed to more pollution than adults, especially pollution in car exhausts because they are shorter, so they are closer to car exhausts. I notice it walking on the school run, if there is a cloud of exhaust from an idling car, I’m tall enough to pass above the cloud but my kids have to walk straight through. That’s why it’s important not to leave the car engine running if you are parked up!
What has been the response of the children taking part? their schools and families. Are you aware of any campaigns or changes they have made as a result of their involvement?
The response has been fantastic, especially so considering how busy schools are at the moment. We have all 12 schools signed up and we did our first trial in November and the children really enjoyed taking part.
Are there any similar projects in Scotland?
There are a few projects that will measure air pollution in Scotland. One is called GEMM and will place sensors around Glasgow ahead of the COP26 conference. We have also placed some commercially available sensors at a couple of locations in Scotland, you can take a look at the data on this web page: https://www2.purpleair.com/.
Are there effects of air pollution on health?
Although we are right to worry about air pollution in the UK, the air here is cleaner than in many other countries – globally air pollution is estimated to lead to 4.2 million premature deaths each year, many of which are in India, Pakistan and parts of China and Africa where emission controls are often weaker and there are fewer measurements of air pollution. In the UK it is estimated that between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year can be linked to exposure to air pollution, it is the single largest environmental health threat.
As individuals, what action can we take to reduce air pollution and our exposure to pollutants?
There are a few things you can do to reduce your exposure:
Choose to walk a route in a city that is a few streets back from busy roads rather than along the road itself.
Walk upwind of the road rather than downwind to avoid pollution blowing at you.
Some schools have trialled “school streets” where the road outside the school is pedestrianised for a short time at drop-off and pickup times.
Walk and cycle rather than travelling by car or bus.
Be cautious about using fires and wood burners particularly on still nights where the smoke won’t be blown away. Even using clean fuel, they can still have a big effect on air quality.
Dr. Rae returns to help investigate climate science further, answer any questions and give advice on sustainable lifestyles by responding to questions put forward by our followers on social media.
Glasgow Science Centre is joined by Dr. James Rae to help us understand just what climate change is, why it’s so serious and how we can go about solving it.
Dr. James Rae is an Earth and Climate Scientist in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at St Andrews University. His main goal as a scientist is to develop our understanding of the carbon cycle and climate.
In 2015, Dr. Rae was awarded the European Geosciences Union Outstanding Young Scientist Award in Biogeochemistry, for his contributions to understanding past climate change and its causes.
Antarctic ice cores hold the secrets of our past climate. In this film, EPICA shows us how they drilled in East Antarctica to retrieve a climate record.
Join GeoBus for a 1 minute insight into how human activity is contributing to climate change and the impact this is having on glaciers and life on our world.
Join GeoBus for a 1 minute introduction to climate change and discover how a rise in global temperature is contributing to rising sea levels and changing weather. Find out the far reaching impact these changes are having on our world.
