The Climate Puzzle

Storms and weather patterns are becoming more extreme because of climate change. This leads to rivers becoming unpredictable around the world, and big floods becoming more dangerous. How can we use rivers in the past and present to understand the climate in the future, and what it will do to our landscapes? I’ve been investigating rivers in warm periods through geologic history – from ancient Scottish rivers 1.2 billion years ago to ephemeral streams in Greece today. We will go on a journey through time and see how climate change can break the seal on rivers, causing significant landscape change in the near future.

Warming of our planet leads to the melting of ice, even in areas as cold as Antarctica. But how fast is the Antarctic ice melting? And why should we even care here in the UK? In my talk I will take you on a journey south, to my favourite continent, Antarctica. This winter I co-led an ambitious expedition to a really remote place - 800 km away from any base station. Our team set up camp and lived on the ice for five weeks. We embarked on a scientific mission to learn about Antarctica’s response to climate change. It was amazing. It was challenging. It was a journey worth sharing.