Topic description and stories

glacier cave on Svalbard

Shrinking Arctic glaciers are unearthing a new source of methane

06 Jul 2023

As the Arctic warms, shrinking glaciers are exposing bubbling groundwater springs which could provide an underestimated source of the potent...

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Volcano erupting near El Paso, La Palma, Spain

Effect of volcanic eruptions significantly underestimated in climate projections

23 Jun 2023

Researchers have found that the cooling effect that volcanic eruptions have on Earth's surface temperature is likely underestimated by a factor of...

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Killer heatwaves endanger India's development

19 Apr 2023

Heatwaves could slow or reverse India’s progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without heat impact assessments.

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Sentinel-1 image composite depicting the highly fractured and fast-flowing frontal margin of the Thwaites and Crosson ice shelves

Ice sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible

05 Apr 2023

Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 metres a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured...

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An illuminated manuscript from the late 14th to the early 15th century, depicting two individuals observing a lunar eclipse

Medieval monks accidentally recorded some of history’s biggest volcanic eruptions

05 Apr 2023

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history’s largest volcanic eruptions, according to a new analysis of 12th and...

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Seeking climate justice at the 'world court'

29 Mar 2023

How a Cambridge professor helped the climate-embattled nation of Vanuatu put the question of global warming to the International Court of Justice for...

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Maureen and her repaired toaster

Let's get fixable: why we need the right to repair

14 Mar 2023

From toasters that won’t pop to farmers hacking their own tractors, we ask why the right to repair is important for people and for the planet – and...

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Person using a smartphone

Social media posts around solar geoengineering ‘spill over’ into conspiracy theories

28 Feb 2023

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have analysed more than 800,000 tweets and found that negative emotions expressed about geoengineering...

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Runaway West Antarctic ice retreat can be slowed by climate-driven changes in ocean temperature

16 Jan 2023

New research finds that ice-sheet-wide collapse in West Antarctica isn’t inevitable: the pace of ice loss varies according to regional differences in...

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Hull

Sea change for Hull

16 Dec 2022

With a changing climate and rising sea levels putting cities at risk of flooding, it’s crucial for planners to increase their cities’ resilience. A...

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Devínska Kobyla Forest steppe in Slovakia

Drought encouraged Attila’s Huns to attack the Roman empire, tree rings suggest

15 Dec 2022

Hunnic peoples migrated westward across Eurasia, switched between farming and herding, and became violent raiders in response to severe drought in...

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Fluid mechanics and the energy transition

14 Oct 2022

Decarbonisation of the energy system is the greatest challenge we face. At Cambridge’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, world-leading...

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