University of Oxford
University of Oxford is a university that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
New framework reveals what’s driving change in global deltas
New research identifies the key causes of changes affecting river deltas around the world and warns of an urgent need to tackle them through climate adaptation and policy. Deltas are low-lying areas that form as rivers empty their water and sediment into another body of water, such as an ocean or lake. Some of the […]
GRIT remaps the world’s rivers, branching into the unknown to aid global flood modelling
A team, led by Professor Louise Slater in the School of Geography and the Environment, has created the most complete map of the world’s rivers ever made offering a major leap forward for flood prediction, climate risk planning, and water resource management in a warming world. The new study, published in Water Resources Research, introduces GRIT—a […]
Scientists find evidence that overturns theories of the origin of water on Earth
University of Oxford researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface. Instead, the material which built our planet was far richer in hydrogen than previously thought. The findings have been published today in the journal Icarus.
Computational method works backwards from observations to track down river polluters
A new computational method developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London uses an innovative new technique to track down the sources of river pollutants. The method can work backwards from observations of polluted river water—making it a simple approach that could be scaled up nationwide. In a case study, the […]
New research finds that sewage release is worse for rivers than agriculture
Ahead of World Rivers Day (24 September), new research by the University of Oxford reveals that sewage discharge into rivers has a greater impact on water quality, and the animals and plants that live in rivers, than surrounding land use. The findings have been published in the journals Global Change Biology and Ecological Solutions and Evidence. Rivers are […]
What did the Romans do for us? Aqueducts and the art of Roman water management
While 21st century water companies struggle to maintain clean, fresh supplies, new research from an international team led by Oxford geoarchaeologist Dr Gül Sürmelihindi, reveals that, some 2,000 years ago, Roman water engineers were keeping up a regular programme of managing and maintaining the ancient water systems. According to the research, published in Science Advances, ancient water management traces are captured in […]
Compound extreme heat and drought will hit 90% of world population
More than 90% of the world's population is projected to face increased risks from the compound impacts of extreme heat and drought, potentially widening social inequalities as well as undermining the natural world's ability to reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere—according to a study from Oxford's School of Geography. Warming is projected to intensify these hazards […]
Study reveals new insights into how fast-moving glaciers may contribute to sea level rise
Models of sea level rise based on our understanding of how Earth’s ice sheets respond to a warming atmosphere could be incorrect, a new study has found. This could have significant implications for future predictions of global sea level rise from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Climate change is resulting in sea level rise […]
Severe flood threat caused by climate change
For the first time, researchers have proved human-caused global warming is directly responsible for creating a ‘critical threat’ of a devastating outburst flood – putting a city of some 120,000 people in the path of potential floodwaters, according to new research from the University of Oxford and the University of Washington, published in Nature Geoscience. As the […]