http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/index.aspx This feed contains the 10 latest features and special reports from Planet Earth online en-gb Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:36:37 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1453 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1453 Comparing the results of different climate models is harder than you'd think; researchers are tackling the problem with techniques developed to analyse medical images. Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:33:23 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1460 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1460 You might expect research on Antarctica's past climate to involve drilling and analysing ice cores. But the warmer, more vegetated parts of the Antarctic Peninsula offer very different kinds of evidence. Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:23:19 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1457 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1457 Improving our predictions of flash flooding means unpicking everything that's happening inside a convective cloud - from the inside. The COPE project uses the best-equipped aircraft - and the strongest-stomached scientists - to do just that. Fri, 31 May 2013 13:47:30 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1459 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1459 Dean Wilson recently returned from a research cruise off Japan, carrying out deep-sea drilling to gather rock samples and sensor data on the geology beneath the seabed. The results will give us a better understanding of the risk of earthquakes and tsunamis. He describes life aboard the good ship Chikyu. Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:00 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1454 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1454 It turns out that one of the deadliest hazards the Earth can throw at us may happen more often than we thought. New work in Yellowstone could radically change our understanding of these events, with implications not just for those living nearby but also for global climate. Fri, 17 May 2013 14:18:42 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1461 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1461 The unique wildlife of the Galapagos is under threat. Tom Marshall talked to Ken Collins of the University of Southampton to find out why, and what researchers and conservationists are doing about it. Fri, 10 May 2013 16:49:17 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1373 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1373 Ozone might provide vital protection from UV light in the upper atmosphere, but down here it's a big problem, harming people's health and damaging crops. How serious is the threat to the food we depend on? Scientists are working to find out. Fri, 03 May 2013 12:43:57 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1378 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1378 Doing great science is all very well, but it's all academic if the people who can put it to use don't get to hear about it. How to get researchers out of their comfort zones and sharing information? Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:53:32 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1381 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1381 Food is not just something we eat. Its fluctuating price and availability mean it will be one of the main ways many of us will interact with the environmental issues of our time: climate change and competition for water, land and energy. Tim Benton explains why. Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:54:58 +0100 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1379 http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1379 Whether you're raising potatoes in Wisconsin, coffee in Kenya or cows in Cornwall, growing the world's food and drink has environmental costs before you even think about transporting it, processing it, keeping it cool and eventually cooking and serving it. A new web tool is helping farmers understand their emissions. Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:24:51 +0100