Bethan Davies, Royal Holloway

The year 2019 concludes a decade of exceptional heat, and is on track to be the second or third warmest year on record. While the global average temperature teeters on 1.1°C above the pre-industrial record, the world’s glaciers are in stark retreat.

In high mountain areas, the steady trickle of melting snow in spring has nourished people for generations. Today, 1.9 billion people – or 22% of the world’s population – live downstream of snowpacks and glaciers and depend on them as their main source of drinking water. These icy and snowbound mountain regions could be considered water towers, which provide a regular supply of water for drinking, irrigation and power generation, and provide a life-saving buffer during droughts.

We are delighted to announce that AntarcticGlaciers.org has been awarded a grant from the Curry Fund of the Geologists’ Association. This will support further website development, and help bring the website further into line with the new UK A-Level curriculum.

The Continent of Antarctica. Julian Dowdeswell and Michael Hambrey.

Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered and explored, and is sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. It is relevant to all of us, since it can influence ocean currents and sea levels. The history of the continent, both geological and human, is fascinating, with heroic attempts to map and explore the continent.

In The Continent of Antarctica, Julian Dowdeswell and Michael Hambrey provide an in-depth overview of the continent of Antarctica, covering the geography and evolution of Antarctica, its people and exploration, and its future. This book, aimed at the interested non-expert reader, is beautifully illustrated with photographs by the authors and provides a detailed introduction to readers illustrated in the Antarctic continent. Throughout the book, personal stories and reflections from the two careers of the authors in Antarctica are used to highlight and enrich key points, and make it engaging throughout.

The language is accessible, but the content is carefully and thoroughly researched. The book is strongly grounded in science, but there are sections on human interaction with Antarctica and geopolitics. Both authors are talented photographers who have been working in Antarctica for decades, with many field seasons between them. This has resulted in a rich archive of photography, used throughout the book. Continue reading →

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded an Outreach Grant by the British Society for Geomorphology.  These funds will be used to support our attendance and an exhibit at the Geographical Association Annual Conference in April 2019, called “Celebrating Geography”. We hope to use this opportunity to both promote our website but also to interact with teachers and targeted end users of the website, and engage in a dialogue to help us better support Geography Teachers who teach the new AQA A-Level Geography, which has a “Glaciers and Glaciated Landscapes” module.

British Society for Geomorphology

Next week is Freshers’ Week and across the country, universities will be welcoming enthusiastic students into their departments. These students will be equipped with notebooks, lever-arch files, reading lists and text books.

But there is more that you can do to prepare for university. Here is my own recommended reading list. These are popular science books that I love. You won’t find them on your termly reading list, but they are well written by science advocates, and they may just remind you of your love of science after a particularly dull lecture. Further, they will broaden your horizons, going beyond the scope of your lecturer course and tying together many different concepts.

Continue reading →

So, in September I’ll be moving on again. I’m leaving the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading to take up a lectureship in Physical Geography (Quaternary Science) at Royal Holloway, University of London.

I haven’t been at the University of Reading for long, but I’ve been impressed by their progressive attitudes, by the friendliness of the Department for Meteorology (including their croquet games and daily seminars with cake!), and by their generally well-run, well-organised attitude. I enjoyed working on my research project and enjoyed working with my PIs. I’m very sad to be leaving.

But I’m also delighted to be starting at RHUL, to be joining such a dynamic and exciting department, and to be taking charge of my own research and teaching. It’s the next step in my academic career. I’m excited and can’t wait to start.