Into The Atmosphere with Mukhtaar Waja

  I don't know if you've heard, but climate change is still a thing. In fact, it's still a pretty big thing. With greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane running amuck in our atmosphere, and unsustainable practices persistently common, humankind is running out of time to fix the mess we've created. We need a solution, a breakthrough of some sort, that'll help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a more sustainable society... But, what if I told you that solution was in front of us all along? Enter: biomimicry !   You know what they say about guys with big carbon footprints... they've got small consciences.   Biomimicry is an innovative branch of design which imitates the forms and functionality of natural organisms. As  nature is the greatest designer , it's no wonder that natural organisms are the greatest models off which to base designs. In recent years, there have been some really creative people out there using biomimicry to create sus

Is there anything cooler than volcanoes? You may think  cool is a poor choice of words for something that spews molten lava, but volcanoes are incredible geological features with a surprising effect on the global atmosphere. In fact, there is some debate around whether or not volcanic eruptions can induce El Niño events ! If you don't know what El Niño is, don't panic, I've got you. With climate change intensifying the effects of El Niño, it is increasingly important to understand and predict the intensity of future EL Niño events. So without further ado, get ready to have your mind erupted... erupt is a synonym for blown, it works, don't question it.  Sometimes you just gotta blow off some steam, and destroy an ancient Roman city , it's called self-care El Niño is a climatic phenomenon occurring erratically every two to seven years, and though it occurs in the Pacific Ocean, El Niño affects places all across the globe, and has been responsible for devastating drou

Your mother and I have been meaning to tell you this for a while now... isotopes have nothing to do with ice. No, really, it's true. Regardless, isotopes are pretty awesome, and some really smart people are using them to understand what Earth was like back in the good ol' days - like,  millions of years ago!  One of the main reasons why it's important to understand Earth's history, is so that we can have a better understanding of its future. Earth is no stranger to climate change - believe me , the pair have history - and if we can understand how the Earth responded to major climatic changes in the past , we can predict how it will respond in the future. Then we can prepare for the Anthropogenic apocalypse... Personally,  I'm hoping for a Mad Max apocalypse, or really, anything but the apocalypse from the Road...  oh god, anything but the Road So, what are isotopes, and how do they help us understand the past? Elements such as Carbon and Oxygen have a certain numb

Man , early human beings were resilient . Your parents may complain about how easy kids have it these days  but even they don't know what it was like for our ancestors to live through an actual Ice Age ! Human beings have survived around two Ice Ages , and these major glacial events actually had a major impact on human adaptation and the development of civilisation... but first, let's dig into what an Ice Age actually is, and how it comes about.  Your ancestors showing you the route they took to get to school. 2.58 million years ago , the Earth entered the Quaternary period, and throughout these millions of years, the Earth has been cycling between glacial and interglacial periods. With a large enough drop in global temperatures, glacial events see large parts of the Earth hijacked by ice sheets, as conditions allow glaciers to advance across the land, accompanied by a drop in sea levels. Conversely, interglacial periods occur between glacial periods - as the name implies -

Not many can say that they completely changed the world - that they built an empire from the ground up - and paved the way for the future of land-based life on Earth. Not many can say they did that and caused a major Extinction Event in one go. Yet, that's exactly what happened with the introduction of the first land plants, some 470 million years ago! The Earth we live on - and the atmosphere which enables us to exist - would not be as it is without the influence of the first land plants . The story you are about to hear will chill you to your roots...    Artistic Recreation  of land plants celebrating their invasion (is this kind of cannibalism?) The land plant invasion began... not on land, surprisingly.  Before plants found their way onto land, the main photosynthetic producer of oxygen was   Cyanobacteria  - more commonly known as blue-green algae.  You likely know that   photosynthesis  is an important process in which plants take in Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and release Oxygen