The first is 'Durham changes the Fracking Debate' by Professor Richard Davies. I have had the pleasure of meeting Richard during his time as head of the DEI ( Durham Energy Institute ) and know he has spent a lot to time on this whole area. Fracking involves a combination of horizontal drilling and fluid injection and is a bit like Marmite in that people either love it or hate it. In 2012 Durham published a database on hydraulic fractures which was used by both side in the debate.A perennial problem for scientists I guess. One issue that excites particular attention is the risk of triggering earthquakes, following the 2.3 magnitude one in Lancashire in April 2011. Richard and his team have looked at 198 man made earthquakes since 1929. I had no idea there were that many. Anyway, fracking is not near the top as a cause. Richard acknowledges it is a risk and one that needs monitoring and researching but the evidence wouldn't support this as being the reason for a permanent ban.
The second article is called 'Ships logs and Icebergs' by Professor Mike Bentley. A lot of stuff is written about climate change but less about the actual impacts of that change. The article refers to a newly created Climate Impacts Research Centre which is looking at a range of projects such as
-species ranges in southern Africa
-the quantity of sea ice in Greenland and Antarctica
- the impact of sea level changes on different parts of the UK.
The sea ice project includes looking at large archives of ships' logbooks which go back several centuries on voyages for trade, whaling, exploration and even rescue missions. It struck me as a creative use of one set of data for another purpose but ultimately both about survival although on different time and scope scales.
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