Key aims and expertise
Environmental change is one of the most pressing problems facing humanity at present. Research into this diverse theme within the division is equally broad and spans a variety of topics, different geographical locations, and seeks to reconstruct changes in key environmental parameters through geological time.
Expertise within the group is being used to assess ecosystem feedback in the carbon cycle in both arctic and tropical wetlands, to determine methane emissions from individual dairy cows during milking, to assess long-term (geological) interactions between the Earth’s biota and to determine the impact of potential leakage of CO2 from carbon capture and storage infrastructure.
Current projects
NERC Standard grant. 500,000 years of solar irradiance, climate and vegetation changes [Dr Barry Lomax]
Academy of Finland. Reindeer grazing and tundra soil carbon storage under changing climate [Dr Sofie Sjögersten]
National Grid. Assessing the environmental impact of CO2 leakage from infrastructure associated with carbon capture and storage facilities. [Dr Barry Lomax]
Significant results
Results from this research group are leading to a mechanistic understanding of past climate change and understanding of ecosystem feedbacks, the development of the UK Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Platform and the delivery of information to the carbon capture and storage industry.