Today, our natural world is suffering rapid alterations at large scales as consequence of environmental problems like climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Impacts like warming temperatures, modified rainfall patterns, as well as droughts and extreme events can shift species historic habitat ranges, as they “follow” livable conditions; or these impacts can also be factors […]
23 Global Change Ecology (GCE) students* from the University of Bayreuth were granted the privilege of participating as observers in the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6th to 19th 2022. COP conferences broadly provide a platform for negotiating international […]
In all its 8.5 million km² [1], Brazil contains six continental biomes: the Amazônia, the Pantanal, the Cerrado, the Caatinga, the Pampas, and the Mata Atlântica (Figure below). Each of these biomes have their own peculiarities, located in different climatic zones and hosting a wide variety of animal and plant species. Since the arrival of […]
Apply now for the master’s programme Global Change Ecology at the University of Bayreuth, an interdisciplinary graduate programme that deals with global change and its environmental, ecological and societal aspects. It aims to train highly qualified leaders for tasks and problem solving in science, environmental protection and political or economic decision making. Part of the […]
Water is a natural resource that is indispensable for life on the planet. Known as the Blue Planet, Earth has 71% of its surface covered by water. Nevertheless, out of the total amount of water present on our planet, 97% is in the oceans and only 3% is freshwater; this last comprising water in glaciers […]
Climate justice is social justice Have you ever asked yourself what does a jaguar or a tree have in common with you? My short answer would be that we live in the same house called Earth, that our food comes from the same soil, and we all need water every day to live. Being on […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented impacts across various spheres. To this day, the world is still trying to recover from the damages the pandemic has caused, while also trying to stop further negative impacts. Last month World Economic Forum released the 17th edition of the Global Risks Report. As every year, the report assesses […]
As part of a Master’s course at the University Centre of Svalbard, I spent five weeks on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the High Arctic. The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) is the world’s northernmost higher education institution, located in Longyearbyen at 78º North, only about 1300 km from the North Pole. UNIS offers research-based […]
On Sunday, the 31st of October, governments, industries, NGOs, and other stakeholders, come together in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP). Expectations for this year’s COP are high, some voices even say too high, preparing for a failure because they believe that the countries will not be able to deliver. Why are expectations so high? Since Paris, Glasgow is the […]
Wicked problems are issues with many interdependent factors, which make them seem impossible to be solved. Since the factors are often incomplete, in flux, and/or difficult to define, a deep understanding of the stakeholders involved, and innovative solution-oriented approaches are required to solve wicked problems. For instance, climate change is a wicked problem. And that’s […]
