News
Terrawatch: Tibetan plateau shifting and stretching over time
The Guardian, 5 November 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/05/terrawatch-tibetan-plateau-shift-height-zhada-basin-shells
Kate Ravilious on the Tibetan Plateau shift
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: The greatest droughts in a thousand years
The Guardian, 19 October 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/oct/19/california-drought-dust-bowl
Kate Ravilious on a study showing that California’s current crippling three-year drought may be caused by the same atmospheric conditions as triggered the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Clothes that recharge your laptop – the near-endless possibilities of artificial leaves
Horizon - The EU research and innovation magazine, 16 October 2014
Clothes that recharge your laptop – the near-endless possibilities of artificial leaves
Using a protein taken from nature, scientists have made artificial leaves that can harvest energy faster than natural ones, and the ultra-lightweight material opens up the possibility of wearable technology and paint-on solar cells.
READ ARTICLE AT Horizon - The EU research and innovation magazine
Weatherwatch: Clouds are weighty wonders, but how do they stay up?
The Guardian, 13 October 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/oct/13/weatherwatch-clouds-environment
Kate Ravilious explains why clouds don’t fall to earth – until it rains
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: Mount Ontake eruption
The Guardian, 1 October 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/01/terrawatch-mount-ontake-eruption-japan-steam
Kate Ravilious on why the eruption of the Japanese volcano may have been almost impossible to predict.
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Every leaf tells a story
The Guardian, 14 September 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/sep/14/weatherwatch-leaves-shape-climate
Kate Ravilious on how the shape of a tree’s leaf is influenced by the climate that the tree prefers
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Prediction impossible
The Guardian, 8 September 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/sep/08/weatherwatch-prediction-impossible
Kate Ravilious on why those alluring ‘super precise’ forecasts of summer showers are so frequently inaccurate
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: Bárðabunga plays the waiting game
The Guardian, 5 September 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/05/terrawatch-iceland-volcano-bardabunga
Kate Ravilious reports on the stirrings of a volcano that has erupted more lava than any other on Earth in the last 10,000 years.
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Every drop counts
The Guardian, 29 August 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/29/weatherwatch-rainfall-data-school-children
Kate Ravilious on how a project involving primary school children with the collection of rainfall data could significantly improve weather forecasts
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Every flash – as it happens
The Guardian, 17 August 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/17/weatherwatch-lightning-map-live
Kate Ravilious on how a network of enthusiasts with lightning detectors has created a live online map of the world’s electrical storms
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Boomerang Bertha
The Guardian, 11 August 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/11/weatherwatch-storm-bertha-boomerang
Kate Ravilious on how it may become more common in the future for tropical storms to bounce back across the Atlantic and batter western Europe
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: The everlasting fire
The Guardian, 1 August 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/01/terrawatch-everlasting-fire
Kate Ravilious describes what happens when a coal seam catches alight deep beneath the ground.
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Kathmandu’s earthquake nightmare
Cosmos, 28 July 2014
beta.cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/kathmandus-earthquake-nightmare
By analysing fault lines in Nepal scientists hope better to predict the next big one. The problem is finding them, as
Kate Ravilious discovers.
READ ARTICLE AT Cosmos
Weatherwatch: Cold, colder, coldest
The Guardian, 20 July 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jul/20/weatherwatch-temperature-coldest-antarctica
Kate Ravilious on the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth – 31 years ago today, at a Russian research station in Antarctica
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Riding into the wind
The Guardian, 7 July 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jul/07/weatherwatch-riding-into-wind
Kate Ravilious assesses some of the meteorological challenges facing riders in the Tour de France
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: The crash that splintered Earth’s crust
The Guardian, 4 July 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/04/terrawatch-asteroid-impact-plate-tectonics
Kate Ravilious on how Earth’s surface jigsaw of tectonic plates may have been triggered by a cataclysmic asteroid impact
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Wheat stressed out in the sunshine
The Guardian, 15 June 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jun/15/weatherwatch-wheat-heat-stress
Kate Ravilious explains how too much sun at this time of year, as the wheat comes into flower, can reduce crop yield by over a fifth
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Why the sky is blue
The Guardian, 9 June 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jun/09/weatherwatch-why-sky-blue
Kate Ravilious explains why what you see when you look up depends on the invisible molecules above your head
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: Where plates collide
The Guardian, 6 June 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/06/terrawatch-indonesia-volcano-tectonic-plates
Kate Ravilious explains why the Indonesian archipelago is one of the most explosive places on Earth
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: A bad winter for California’s cherries…
The Guardian, 30 May 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/may/30/weatherwatch-california-cherry-harvest-winter-fog
Kate Ravilious explains that the California cherry orchards missed their fog requirement last winter – and the harvest has suffered
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Wildfire Weather
The Guardian, 18 May 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/may/18/weatherwatch-wildfires-darkness-mini-tornado
Kate Ravilious on how wildfires can effect places far from the fires, generate their own weather – and be beneficial too
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Art takes a shot at the moon
New Scientist, 15 May 2014
www.newscientist.com/article/dn25564-art-takes-a-shot-at-the-moon.html#.U3SFbl7XnFI
Visions of a new space race dominate a group show at the BALTIC 39 gallery in the UK, but sometimes the wonder of space is lost amid the practicalities
READ ARTICLE AT New Scientist
Weatherwatch: All the world’s a map
The Guardian, 12 May 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/may/12/weatherwatch-all-world-map
Kate Ravilious finds the perfect way for weatherholics to while away a rainy afternoon
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: Iron from the sky
The Guardian, 2 May 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/02/terrawatch-ancient-egypt-iron-meteorite
Kate Ravilious on the source of the iron used in artefacts discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from hundreds of years before the start of the Egyptian iron age
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Did warm weather cause the Titanic disaster?
The Guardian, 27 April 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/apr/27/weatherwatch-icebergs-greenland-titanic
Kate Ravilious on how warm, wet weather in Greenland in 1908 may have caused excess iceberg calving over the following years
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Like it or not, the future is hot
The Guardian, 20 April 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/apr/20/weatherwatch-global-warming-ocean-heat-trade-winds
Kate Ravilious reports on research that suggests that, when it comes to assessing global warming, we’ve been measuring the wrong thing
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: In the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull
The Guardain, 4 April 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/04/earthwatch-shadow-eyjafjallajokull
Four years after an Icelandic volcano grounded Europe’s air traffic, Kate Ravilious wonders if the worst is yet to happen
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardain
Weatherwatch: Extreme and terrible – but no freak occurrence
The Guardian, 16 March 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/mar/16/weatherwatch-tornadoes-america-disaster
Kate Ravilious reports on new research showing that the probablity of deadly tornado outbreaks in the US may be higher than previously thought
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: The great white hurricane
The Guardian, 10 March 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/mar/10/weatherwatch-america-great-white-hurricane
Kate Ravilious recalls the devastating storm that took the US by surprise 126 years ago today
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: The earth moved (a little)
The Guardian, 28 February 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/28/earthwatch-earthquake-bristol-channel
Kate Ravilious on the earthquake that shook the teacups in Devon recently, and on some historical quakes that have caused more damage in Britain in past centuries
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: misery that oozes from the ground
The Guardian, 16 February 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/feb/16/weatherwatch-groundwater-flooding
Kate Ravilious on groundwater flooding, caused by saturated rocks and overflowing aquifers
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Be careful what you wish for
The Guardian, 10 February 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/feb/10/weatherwatch-careful-what-wish-for
Kate Ravilious explains why the lovely warm summer we are all looking forward to could mean even more intense deluges
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Terrawatch: It’s a wonderful world
The Guardian, 31 January 2014
www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/31/earthwatch-oh-lucky-planet
Kate Ravilious introduces a new series that will explore and celebrate the fascinating rocky lump we call home
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: The forecast for Mars – with help from Mongolian sand dunes
The Guardian, 19 January 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jan/19/weatherwatch-forecast-mars-sand-dunes-wind
Kate Ravilious explains how scientists plan to use the alignment of grains of sand to predict prevailing wind speeds on Mars and Titan
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
The seven deadly sinners driving global warming
New Scientist, 15 January 2014
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129523.100-the-seven-deadly-sinners-driving-global-warming.html#.Ut6Zf9mnzGh
A study has identified the countries that have contributed most to climate change over the past century
READ ARTICLE AT New Scientist
Weatherwatch: Rivers in the sky bring misery to the land
The Guardian, 13 January 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jan/13/weatherwatch-atmospheric-rivers-floods-cumbria
Kate Ravilious reports on “atmospheric rivers” that can carry as much water as the Amazon – and drop it over a small region
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: North America’s bleak midwinter
The Guardian, 3 January 2014
www.theguardian.com/news/2014/jan/03/weatherwatch-ice-storm-north-america-toronto
Kate Ravilious on the ice storm that cut the power to nearly 800,000 people just before Christmas, caused, surprisingly, by an exceptionally warm air mass over New York
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Why is the British weather so stormy right now?
The Guardian, 3 January 2014
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/shortcuts/2014/jan/03/why-is-the-british-weather-so-bad-right-now
Lingering warm air that drifted from the Sahara to the Atlantic this summer could be to blame for Britain’s storms and heavy snowfall in the US and Canada
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Seal of approval for polar ocean research
The Guardian, 15 December 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/dec/15/weatherwatch-southern-ocean-research-seals
15 Dec 2013: Kate Ravilious reports on how elephant seals are helping to improve our weather forecasts
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
The Scientist’s Garden
Archaeology, 10 December 2013
archaeology.org/issues/120-1401/letter-from/1623-england-excavations-edward-jenner-garden
Excavations in an English garden reveal the evolution of the nation’s culture across thousands of years
READ ARTICLE AT Archaeology
Weatherwatch: Measuring rainfall variation – using windscreen wipers
The Guardian, 6 December 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/dec/06/weatherwatch-rain-measurement-windscreen-wipers
Kate Ravilious on how motorists are helping German scientists measure rain conditions more effectively
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: The cleverness of mushrooms
The Guardian, 29 November 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/29/weatherwatch-fungi-mushrooms-spores
Kate Ravilious reports on recent research that shows the remarkably clever means by which mushrooms ensure wide dispersal of their spores
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: Carbon released in the Philippines might never be recovered
The Guardian, 17 November 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/17/typhoon-haiyan-trees-global-warming
Kate Ravilious warns that future superstorms could prevent regrowth of the trees uprooted by Haiyan
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Typhoon Haiyan may have created a carbon burp
New Scientist, 11 November 2013
www.newscientist.com/article/dn24558-typhoon-haiyan-may-have-created-carbon-burp.html
As the Philippines assesses the damage caused by typhoon Haiyan, scientists calculate that storms like this release carbon from forests, worsening climate change
READ ARTICLE AT New Scientist
Are simple climate models nearly as good?
Environmental Research Web, 11 November 2013
environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/55237
Study analyses performance of complex atmosphere–ocean climate models in CMIP5 in response to sudden increases in carbon dioxide
READ ARTICLE AT Environmental Research Web
Is summer on the right (storm) track?
Environmental Research Web, 6 November 2013
environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/55224
European summer rainfall depends on North Atlantic ocean temperatures and storm track path
READ ARTICLE AT Environmental Research Web
Weatherwatch: Does bonfire night bring cloud and rain?
The Guardian, 1 November 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/01/weatherwatch-bonfire-night-cloud-rain
Kate Ravilious explains why all the smoke produced on Bonfire Night does not necessarily mean that the next day will be dismal
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian
Weatherwatch: The coldest hour
The Guardian, 20 October 2013
www.theguardian.com/news/2013/oct/20/weatherwatch-sunrise-cold
Kate Ravilious explains why temperatures continue to drop for some time after the sun rises
READ ARTICLE AT The Guardian