News

Terrawatch: Tibetan plateau shifting and stretching over time

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

The Great War in miniature

Archaeology, 1 September 2014
www.archaeology.org/issues/144-1409

The excavation of a unique battlefield model provides insight into military tactics and the evolution of warfare

READ ARTICLE AT Archaeology

Weatherwatch: Every drop counts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Living on the Edge

Living on the Edge

Archaeology Magazine, 9 June 2014
www.archaeology.org/issues/141-1407/letter-from/2175-scotland-bennachie-peasant-community

READ ARTICLE AT Archaeology Magazine

Weatherwatch: Why the sky is blue

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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?

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

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