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Research based on unique marine-geophysical, bathymetric and geological data from the previously little-known polar shelf seas, collected and analysed by Dowdeswell and colleagues, has had significant impacts on the work of British and international charting agencies and on the activities of multi-national hydrocarbons companies. In terms of hazards in polar seas, these high-resolution water-depth data from offshore of Greenland and Antarctica have proved invaluable for use by the UK Hydrographic Office and international sea-floor mapping agencies in formal navigational charts that have wide international reach. Industry has also used Dowdeswell's satellite-derived measurements of iceberg dimensions and drift tracks, together with evidence on iceberg-keel ploughing of the sea floor, to assess hazards of operating ships and sea-floor structures in Arctic waters. Dowdeswell and colleagues' interpretation of seismic data has generated understanding of Quaternary sedimentary geometry and architecture on glacier-influenced shelves. This has been used in collaborative projects with hydrocarbons companies in applications to identify sorted sandy sediments (significant as oil and gas traps) in hydrocarbon-bearing ancient glacial rocks, for example in North Africa.
This case study details the impact of current glaciological research at the University of Aberdeen on the Earth's polar ice sheets on practitioners and services in the non-academic science community, specifically the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and European Space Agency (ESA). In addition, the research has informed public understanding of the stability of the polar ice caps under the influence of climate change. The beneficiaries of our research are professional scientists in Environmental and Earth Sciences working at BAS and ESA who have used our findings to constrain computer modelling of ice sheet dynamics and to calibrate and validate measurements of ice sheet mass change. We have been involved in major international collaborative field research on the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets to better define the current basal and surface boundaries of the ice sheets and to improve the understanding of the sensitivity of the ice sheets' boundaries to climate change over a range of timescales.
The Open University (OU) co-produced the highest rating television natural history science programme in the UK since 2001. Input from Dr Mark Brandon's research over the last 15 years shaped the subjects to be filmed, the science portrayed, and the narrative used in the series. The impact had reach and significance: 263,000 A0 polar maps containing research-level science were requested by the UK public, and the series provided a focal point that changed the public debate on polar climate change. This debate influenced the passage of the UK Antarctic Bill through the Houses of Parliament.
Supported by world-leading research, Geography and Earth Sciences' Centre for Glaciology (CfG) operates as a highly-effective hub for providing information to the public concerning the relationships between climate change and Earth's ice masses. The impact of this engagement has been to inform the knowledge base of an international audience of people concerning the reality of climate change and its consequences for the cryosphere. This has been achieved through (i) extensive involvement in television, radio and newspaper coverage, (ii) the design and provision of a broad range of innovative internet-based and social media resources, and (iii) authorship and presentation of lectures, books and articles specifically designed to improve public understanding.
As research led by Professor Martin Siegert at the University of Bristol between 2001 and 2006 has shown, a complex, dynamic and living world exists beneath the thick ice sheets of Antarctica. These pristine aquatic environments are likely to be subject to international exploration and study for decades to come. Siegert and his team not only furthered scientific understanding of subglacial lake systems but also highlighted the potential damage to these environments during direct exploration and demonstrated the need for a formal code of conduct to protect them from contamination or undue disturbance during such work. The research was instrumental in achieving the adoption by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in 2011 of a code of conduct presented by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. The code, which is binding on the 50 nations that are signatories to the Treaty, identifies subglacial environments as being of special scientific interest and provides clear guidance to scientists on accessing these fragile ecosystems responsibly. Prior to this agreement, given that traditional deep-ice drilling techniques involve kerosene-based antifreezes, the ecosystems within subglacial lakes and their downstream catchments were in danger of being seriously compromised.
As a consequence of his research on subglacial lakes and in recognition of the impact of his work, Siegert was awarded the 2013 Martha T. Muse Prize by the Tinker Foundation (value $100,000).
Researchers in the Earth Surface Processes and Environmental Change (ESPEC) Research Group have communicated Quaternary geology to user communities explicitly guiding the location of sites for mineral extraction and infrastructure (airports / wind turbines) in terrestrial and offshore environments. This ranges from contract investigations in Wales, English Heritage Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) research in Kent, Sussex and Lancashire to the current NERC BRITICE-CHRONO Consortium. The understanding provided has informed infrastructural and mineral resource planning, aiding mitigation for heritage and environmental assets. Data are embedded in National and Regional Planning (e.g. Welsh Assembly, Lancashire County Council, Natural England, English Heritage).
Dr Ceri Lewis' research expeditions to the Canadian High Arctic to investigate impacts of ocean acidification, have informed educational material, introducing oceans education to schools, both nationally and internationally. Lewis worked with Digital Explorer, a non-profit organisation, to provide free lesson plans and multi-media resources on ocean acidification and Arctic climate change to classrooms, both nationally and internationally. The resulting education resources, informed by Ceri's fieldwork, are already being used by 1,225 UK secondary schools (i.e. 30% of secondary schools in the UK), reaching over 658,000 pupils within the first year of being launched. These school resources are also being used internationally including a training programme in Alaska and outreach examples across Europe.
3DU researchers have used innovative techniques for reconstructing past sea levels to compile a comprehensive database of evidence on recent and current UK sea-level change, and have developed an improved model of vertical land movement which is consistent with the historical data on sea-level change. The model and database underpin the sea-level component of the UK Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09) climate modelling tool, and thereby inform a wide range of coastal planning and management activities around the UK. DU researchers have also applied these methodological advances in detailed work on coastal stability at existing and proposed sites for nuclear power stations and nuclear waste repositories in England and Sweden.
The Arctic is undergoing faster rates of climate change than most other regions of the world, with major global consequences. Since the 1990s, Professor Callaghan and co-workers at Sheffield have been at the forefront of determining climate change impacts on Arctic ecosystems. This research has directly led to, and fed into, invited authorship and major co-ordination roles in the authoritative international synthesis reports on climate change impacts commissioned by the Arctic Council and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Through these reports our findings have been widely communicated to international policymakers, the media and society. Callaghan and colleagues have provided policy advice directly to ministers, ambassadors, climate negotiators, and other leaders through face-to-face meetings and presentations, and influenced policy debates at regional to international levels. They have actively engaged in knowledge- exchange activities with Arctic indigenous societies, which are improving those societies' strategies for adaptation to climate change. Through public lectures, the media and authorship of a commissioned textbook, the Sheffield research findings have increased public understanding and influenced the A-level Geography curriculum.