Articles by Hannah Bird
Phys.org / Rainforest response to deglaciation impacted by Australian Indigenous populations, study finds
Australia's Indigenous populations have played an important role in modifying the continent's landscape over millennia, particularly by using fire to create open spaces for daily activities. This continued until they left ...
Phys.org / Pour points: A novel method for woodland water resource management
Vegetation plays a vital role in regulating the percentage of precipitation reaching the ground to nourish the root systems of plants both in the canopy and undergrowth, which consequently supports the survival of the entire ...
Phys.org / Greenland Ice Sheet motion minimally impacted by late-season melting, study finds
Ice melting has become an ever-pressing concern in recent decades as climate change has brought evocative images of lone polar bears floating on unsustainable small blocks of sea ice. Yet, the consequences are far-reaching ...
Phys.org / Polar plastic: 97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
Anthropogenic plastic pollution is often experienced through evocative images of marine animals caught in floating debris, yet its reach is far more expansive. The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly ...
Phys.org / Spring irrigation can reduce summer heat wave events
Heat waves are becoming more extreme as climate change exacerbates, with susceptible locations experiencing more frequent, prolonged and higher intensity events. As such, they pose a hazard to agricultural practices that ...
Phys.org / Nearly 2 billion people globally at risk from land subsidence
Land subsidence is a geohazard caused by the sudden or gradual settling (years to decades) of the land surface due to the removal of subsurface material. This can be due to a variety of factors, both natural (such as earthquakes, ...
Phys.org / Mantle convection linked to seaway closure that transformed Earth's oceanographic circulation patterns
Continental drift is a concept familiar to many, referencing the movement of Earth's continents due to shifting tectonic plates over millions of years, splitting one globe-spanning supercontinent into the configuration we ...
Phys.org / Earthquakes impact forest resilience for decades post-event, research suggests
Earthquake effects are often thought of in terms of the human impact, be that fatalities or destruction to homes and infrastructure. However, the environmental toll can also be damaging, and new research, published in Nature ...
Phys.org / Hiroshima fallout debris linked to first solar system condensates
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States in August 1945 was not only devastating at the time, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, but it has had long-standing impacts to the present ...
Phys.org / Marine microplastics: How water mass dispersal impacts transport trajectories
Marine microplastics (1 μm–5 mm diameter) are an ever-pressing concern, given their longevity in the environment (>100 years) and the effects they have on the organisms inhabiting them, particularly as ocean currents carry ...
Phys.org / Volcanism-induced ozone depletion may have contributed to Permian mass extinction, study finds
The concept of deadly mass extinctions wreaking destruction upon Earth's ecosystems millions of years ago is something that has fascinated the public and scientists alike for decades.
Phys.org / Mapping Australia's marine estate: Seafloor surveillance for biodiversity management
Global marine biodiversity is continually being threatened by oceanographic changes linked to both global warming and anthropogenic activities that degrade the ambient environment for marine organisms. Australia's oceanographic ...
Phys.org / Global warming caused widespread ocean anoxia 93 million years ago, deep-sea sediments research suggests
Marine anoxia is characterized by the oceans being severely depleted in dissolved oxygen, making them toxic and thus having devastating impacts on the organisms inhabiting them. One such event, known as Oceanic Anoxic Event ...
Phys.org / Pollen diaries: Polar ice records preserve climate vs. human impact following Little Ice Age
Pollen can help scientists track changes in vegetation through time, as they respond to moderations of the climate, be that glaciation or deglaciation with transitions into and out of ice ages. Furthermore, it can help elucidate ...
Phys.org / Research suggests European Alps eroding slower than >10,000 years ago
Deglaciation during the Holocene (last ~17,000 years) has had significant impacts on the surrounding mountainous environments as glaciers retreated and left distinct landforms in their wake, such as debris ridges (moraines) ...
