Thursday’s monthly Green Drinks
We have tried Green Drinks over several months now and have had generally quite low attendance. So it is with regret we will not continue the event.
Note – We had a brilliant talk in June by Nick Bromley on the Future of local transport services – attended by two of us. He has agreed to do a full presentation in the New Year.
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CAPS are planning a number of talks over the coming months…
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DOMESTIC RENEWABLES IN SIDMOUTH
FIRST TALK: SOLAR/BATTERIES/HEAT PUMPS: postponed to next year
Rescheduled for 21st January 2025 at the Cafe Scientifique: 3pm Kennaway House
A Sidmouth householder`s experiences of domestic renewable technology – solar, battery and heat pump.
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SECOND TALK: CAVITY WALL INSULATION: postponed to next year
A presentation on cavity wall insulation from the Installation Assurance Authority (IAA).
It is aimed at those people considering a cavity wall installation, but the processes and suitability for their homes needs to be better understood.
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SCIENCE FESTIVAL: EXETER COMMUNITY ENERGY @ SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY: 5TH OCTOBER
A full day of scientific fun around Sidmouth with lots to do for families of all ages as well as grown ups.
Including Exeter Community Energy [ecoe] who will be promoting their “cosy home” work and available to talk about making homes more comfortable and sustainable.
SUMMARY: Super Science Saturday – Sidmouth Science Festival
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SCIENCE FESTIVAL: RECONSTRUCTING CLIMATE @ SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY: 5TH OCTOBER
Reconstructing climate from the longest-lived animals on Earth. Talk by James Scourse, Exeter University.
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A number of marine and terrestrial organisms contain incremental skeletal hardparts representing annual layers akin to tree rings. This enables biological longevity to be determined and, as in dendrochronology, growth increment series can be cross-matched to construct annually-resolved floating chronologies.
If these can be cross-matched with live-collected specimens in which the age of the final increment is known, cross-dating becomes possible. In this talk James will introduce this science of sclerochronology and focus on species of bivalve mollusc with exceptional longevities, notably Glycymeris glycymeris (dog cockle) and Arctica islandica (Icelandic clam, cyprine, quahog). The latter is the longest-lived non-colonial animal known to science (over 500 years) and the talk will include an account of the discovery of this specimen and the attendant media storm.
Radiocarbon determinations from known age material enable the radiocarbon reservoir effect to be constrained and interpreted in terms of hydrographic shifts across the major climate phases of the last 1000 years. Annually- and seasonally-resolved oxygen isotopes enable seawater temperatures to be reconstructed, revealing the extent of ocean warming since the Industrial Revolution. These data reveal changing lead-lag relationships between ocean and atmosphere over this period, enable changes in sea ice to be reconstructed and tipping points within the climate system to be identified.
James Scourse’s research focuses on long-term marine climate and ecosystem change. He has lead groups at Bangor University (1985-2012) and the University of Exeter (since 2017) researching mechanisms and feedback responses in the Earth’s climate system, in particular linked to ice-ocean interaction and the impact of changes of sea level on the carbon cycle, sediment transport and ocean circulation.
He is currently leading the European Research Council 6-year Synergy SEACHANGE Project which is establishing the impact of major human cultural transitions in marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. His group has pioneered the development of sclerochronology, reconstructing marine climate and ecosystem change using very long-lived annually banded molluscs.Much of his research is based at sea and he has served as Chief Scientist on 11 research cruises, including as Principal Scientific Officer on the final cruise of the RRS James Clark Ross in the Antarctic in 2020.
He is currently Head of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Exeter.
Reconstructing climate – Sidmouth Science Festival
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SCIENCE FESTIVAL: PLASTIC RECYCLING: 11TH OCTOBER
Tackling Plastic Waste Issues with Martin Tickner
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Is Plastic the Enemy? – Addressing the problems of Plastic Waste. Talk by Martin Tickner.
Martyn will lead an interactive discussion on the challenges of plastic waste asking such questions as:
- What is the problem we are trying to solve ?
- How is this connected to our modern lifestyle?
The unequivocal solutions are to use less, establish basic waste management in the Global South and be more carbon efficient, striving for a Circular Economy in the Global North. Martyn will provide perspectives on the good and not so good solutions and help us understand what we individually can do in support.
Martyn is a seasoned professional with more than 40 years in the global petrochemical and plastics industry stanning engineering, manufacturing, major projects, IT, M&A and business and general management. He has a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University and has lived in 7 countries on 3 different continents.
In 2020, Martyn joined the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) as Chief Technical Advisor, intrigued by the urgent challenge of reducing environmental pollution, protecting nature and addressing climate change. The Alliance is a non-profit organisation funded by the private sector to identify, develop and prove effective solutions to plastic waste in all regions of the world.
Now an independent consultant, Martyn continues to support the work of the Alliance and advising investors and private sector companies as well as governments negotiating the new legally binding Global Plastic Treaty on the technical and economic strategies and solutions which will bring about meaningful change.
Tackling Plastic Waste Issues – Sidmouth Science Festival
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TALK FROM EXETER COMMUNITY ENERGY: 24TH OCTOBER
This ECOE talk is aimed at looking at practical ways to deal with fuel poverty – as well as how we can improve the comfort and sustainability of where we live.
2.30 to 4.30 and 7pm to 9pm – Thursday 24th October in the Cellar Bar of Kennaway House
TO BE CONFIRMED
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What’s On at Kennaway House Sidmouth | Upcoming Events
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The University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute is also putting on a series of events over the coming months…
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Edit for Climate Events: 2ND AUGUST – 10TH NOVEMBER
A GSI initiative to improve public climate change knowledge. You can improve climate change information accessible to millions! Wikipedia is read 22 billion times a month, so improving the platform’s climate change content can significantly increase public and decision-makers’ access to up-to-date and factual information. Researchers and climate change professionals are contributing one edit to Wikipedia’s climate change content in the 100 days leading up to COP29 (2nd August – 10th November). You can be one of them. All you need to do is find one climate change -related improvement to make to a Wikipedia article and email t.baleta@exeter.ac.uk of your proposed change using this template:
Article name: Text to be edited (as it exists on Wikipedia): Text to replace this (your proposed change): Sources: Reason for change:
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Over the course of 2024 a series of Wikipedia “editathons” will be hosted by the GSI, as part of the institute’s partnership with Wikimedia UK to mobilise research onto Wikipedia, filling knowledge gaps and combating climate misinformation in the process. Join other students and researchers at an editathon to learn how to edit Wikipedia and improve open source climate change knowledge. No Wikipedia experience required! Previous editathon attendees welcome. For questions and more information about the project, contact Tatjana Baleta at t.baleta@exeter.ac.uk
See 100 Days 100 Edits for more information, or email t.baleta@exeter.ac.uk
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