This initiative reflects the university’s commitment to supporting international talent and enhancing accessibility for ambitious Indian students across diverse fields, from science and engineering to business and humanities.

India’s emerging pool of highly motivated students seeking specialized knowledge and global exposure aligns with the university’s vision of empowering diverse, international perspectives to tackle modern challenges. Recognizing this, Newcastle University offers scholarships to alleviate financial burdens and encourage academic excellence in a supportive, innovative environment.

Undergraduate Scholarship

Value:

30% to 50% reduction in tuition fees.

Application closing date:

27^th February 2025

Eligibility:

• Be assessed as international for fee purposes:
• Hold an offer for an eligible undergraduate degree programme at the University’s Newcastle city centre campus for the 2025/26 academic year
• Already have or expect to receive a minimum of ABB at A level or equivalent

Eligible candidates will be assessed according to evidence of academic ability, evidence of commitment to studies and quality of application.
Further details, including a list of non-eligible courses, can be found in the VCES 50 percent UG regulations (2025-26) (PDF: 126.7 KB).

Apply:

Candidates can apply for the scholarship separately online.

https://app.geckoform.com/public/#/modern/21FO00cjskh67y000znvhho8th

For more info:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/fees-funding/scholarships-bursaries/vc-excellence/?_gl=1*1rxwbhn*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTcyMjE3Njk3Ni4xNzMwNzA4MDQy*_ga_VH2F6S16XP*MTczMDcwODA0Mi4xLjAuMTczMDcwODA0Mi4wLjAuMjk4OTAyMTkw

Postgraduate Scholarship

Value:

50% to 100% reduction in tuition fees.

Number of Awards:

30 VC Excellence Scholarships to outstanding international students.

Application closing date:

27^th February 2025

Eligibility:

• Be assessed as international for fee purposes
• Hold an offer for an eligible Master’s degree programme at the University’s Newcastle city centre campus for the 2025/26 academic year
• Already have or expect to receive the equivalent of an upper second-class UK honours degree or above

Eligible candidates will be assessed according to evidence of academic ability, evidence of commitment to studies and quality of application.

Further details, including a list of non-eligible courses, can be found in the VCES 50 per cent postgraduate regulations (2025) (PDF:59 KB).

Apply:

Candidates must submit their applications under ‘scholarship applications’ section.

https://applyto.newcastle.ac.uk/

For more info:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees-funding/search-funding/?code=vces25&_gl=1*1rxwbhn*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTcyMjE3Njk3Ni4xNzMwNzA4MDQy*_ga_VH2F6S16XP*MTczMDcwODA0Mi4xLjAuMTczMDcwODA0Mi4wLjAuMjk4OTAyMTkw

Webinar for more information:
https://belong.ncl.ac.uk/scholarships-webinar

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October 25^th, 2024: In response to the oral health crisis affecting millions of children in England due to tooth decay, a group of recommendations has been put up by scientists at Newcastle University. The research urges the new government to create a national strategy for children’s oral health and offers suggestions for lowering childhood sugar intake, optimising fluoride exposure, and expanding access to dental care.

The study, which is titled “An evidence-based plan for improving children’s oral health with and through educational settings,” was produced by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank. It focusses on how the incoming government may prioritise young people’s life opportunities in the formulation and implementation of public policy.

In England, tooth decay affects millions of children and young adults, and the research highlights the significant and varied scope of this problem and how it lowers their quality of life. If left untreated, it can lead to toothache, insomnia, changed eating patterns, and even harm speech and language development. Children who suffer from poor dental health may be less likely to develop to their full potential and experience a decrease in confidence. Additionally, there is evidence that indicates the impact of dental decay on children living in underprivileged areas is greater, even when taking into consideration the various degrees of dental decay.

In order to enhance children’s oral health and lessen social disparities—particularly those faced by youth in the North of England—the research suggests that the incoming government create and execute a national strategy for improving children’s oral health. A national board of representatives from departmental and local government offices, dental associations and speciality societies, academic institutions, citizen representatives, and charitable groups would be in charge of this. This approach would consist of:

• Minimising sugar intake through legislative measures like extending the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to cover additional sugar-sweetened drinks like sugary milkshakes.
• Imposing limitations on the promotion, marketing, and advertising of food.
  restricting sales of energy drinks with caffeine to those under the age of sixteen.
• Maximising the amount of fluoride exposure by combining community water fluoridation with more focused initiatives like supervised brushing.

Additionally, it lays out recommendations for how early childhood and education-based interventions—co-designed by health visitors, nurseries, and schools—can be optimised for their impact.

The study showcases cutting-edge methods that are now being used to treat children’s oral health issues. It outlines the important role that local government may play in lowering sugar intake and the various approaches that local governments have taken to cut back on the consumption of foods and beverages that are rich in fat, sugar, and salt.

In comparison to their southern counterparts, children and young people living in the North of England are more severely impacted by higher levels of deprivation and associated unmet dental needs, according to Paula Waterhouse, President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry and Professor of Paediatric Dentistry at Newcastle University. She said: “It is time to establish an oral health strategy for children and young people across England. The evidence base garnered by existing oral health research should be used to inform Government strategy and implementation of both national and local policies.

“We need to act now. Our children’s health depends on it and it’s everybody’s business – parents, dental and medical teams, health visitors, industry, education colleagues, and policy makers. We all have a part to play.”

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In a breakthrough, researchers from Newcastle University have helped to create a new home-based care pathway for people with Parkinson’s.

The initiative is supported by the Health Foundation and Parkinson’s UK and has been consistently shaped by consultations with individuals living with Parkinson’s, their families, and caregivers, ensuring alignment with their needs and priorities. Based on the findings, the team responsible for developing the approach is currently exploring avenues to implement the programme nationally within the NHS, funded by the NHS England’s Digital Health Partnership Award.

Camille Carroll, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at Newcastle University, who leads the project and serves as the study’s senior author, said: “There is currently a significant unmet need for effective and efficiently delivered care for people living with Parkinson’s. Through this new care pathway, we have shown the benefits of empowering people with knowledge and understanding of their condition. These benefits are felt not only by the people with Parkinson’s and their partners but also by the healthcare teams and organizations providing their care. With support from NHSE Transformation, we are now creating a digital version of this care pathway, which we hope will eventually enable it to be made available through Parkinson’s services across the UK.”

The Home Based Care pathway, introduced in 2019, combines at-home monitoring via wrist-worn sensors with support and information on recognizing and managing various Parkinson’s symptoms. Patients also can reach out to healthcare practitioners for support when needed.

The current study draws from health checks and feedback received from 100 patients undergoing Parkinson’s treatment at the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest-growing neurological condition, with the number of UK patients projected to reach 170,000 by 2025. Traditional care involves regular, in-person clinical reviews by a movement disorders specialist. However, current NHS challenges are placing increased pressure on these services.

Dr. Rowan Wathes, Associate Director of Policy and Health Strategy at Parkinson’s UK, highlighted the study’s clear indication that the remotely delivered Parkinson’s care pathway is a safe and feasible model, expressing excitement about potential benefits, particularly for those in underserved communities. He said: “Parkinson’s UK provides grants to projects that aim to improve Parkinson’s health and care services across the UK through the Parkinson’s Excellence Network. We were pleased to award a grant to this project in 2018. The study clearly shows that the remotely delivered Parkinson’s care pathway is a safe and feasible model and we are excited by the potential benefits for people with Parkinson’s, particularly those from underserved communities. We look forward to seeing the work progress including the results of formal comparisons with standard care.”

Podcaster and technology writer Rory Cellan-Jones, chairing an Advisory Group focused on the wider implementation of the Home Based Care pathway, emphasized the dissatisfaction of people with Parkinson’s with the current model, proposing a more flexible home-based system that allows contact with healthcare professionals as needed, supported by new technology for a detailed symptom assessment.

The development of the Home Based Care pathway has also involved researchers from the University of Plymouth and the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

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Rare earth elements (REEs) are inherently scarce and limited in availability. In a groundbreaking study co-led by the Newcastle University, researchers have introduced a novel integrated model that assesses how circular economy approaches can transform the global supply chains of critical rare earth elements like neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. According to their analysis, implementing circular economy strategies could result in a substantial 701 kt increase in secondary supply and a corresponding 2,306 kt decrease in demand over the next three decades.

REEs play a pivotal role in the production of various technologies crucial for low-carbon energy and transportation systems. Due to the restricted output from conventional REE mines, circular economy strategies have emerged as potential remedies for addressing supply chain challenges. Despite this, the precise impacts of such strategies on the global REE supply and demand landscape have remained largely unclear.

In response to this knowledge gap, an international research team, including Newcastle University, has devised an integrated model to probe the intricate connections between REEs and climate commitments. The model aims to quantify the potential of circular economy strategies in reshaping the global supply chains of REEs.

Study author, Professor Oliver Heidrich, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at Newcastle University School of Engineering, said, “Our study does shed important light on the demands and supplies and provides a good understanding of the geopolitical dynamics, climate goals, and how the natural resources could be used for political gains.”

The study’s findings highlight a significant discrepancy between in-ground reserves, supply, and demand at both regional and element-specific levels. The mismatch in the supply of heavy rare earth elements emerges as a critical barrier to achieving net-zero emission targets.

Reshaping global REE supply chains

Reduction, substitution, reuse, and recycling are just a few of the circular economy tactics that the report emphasises are critical in changing the global supply chains for rare earth elements. Within the next three decades, the use of these tactics will increase the supply of REE from urban mines, which can greatly lessen the reliance on mining REE. The adoption of circular economy ideas could also lead to a closed-loop supply of REEs in some areas, such as the EU.

Researchers from the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Newcastle University, Leiden University in the Netherlands, and other institutions participated in the study, which was published and featured on the cover of Nature Geoscience.

Professor Oliver Heidrich added, “Our model considers both in-ground stocks and in-use stocks, as well as their quite dramatic geographic shift across ten regions from 2001 to 2050 under three widely accepted climate scenarios. ”

The findings can serve as the scientific basis for international cooperation in promoting the circular economy strategies of REE for global and just low-carbon transitions.

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Scientists at Newcastle University found that mixing hydrogen, bicarbonate, and iron-rich magnetite under conditions mimicking relatively mild hydrothermal vent results in the formation of a spectrum of organic molecules, most notably including fatty acids stretching up to 18 carbon atoms in length. The Natural Environmental Research Council of the United Kingdom provided funding for the research team, which examined how the Earth’s first life systems formed from inert geological components over 3.5 billion years ago.

Their discoveries, which were published in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, may clarify how some important molecules required to generate life are derived from inorganic substances. This knowledge is crucial for comprehending an important phase in the formation of life on Earth billions of years ago. Their research could offer a believable explanation for the origin of the organic molecules that make up ancient cell membranes, which were possibly picked at random by early biochemical processes on the primordial Earth.

Dr Graham Purvis, the study’s lead author, is a postdoctoral research associate at Durham University and carried out the research at Newcastle University. He said, “The results suggest that the convergence of hydrogen-rich fluids from alkaline hydrothermal vents with bicarbonate-rich waters on iron-based minerals could have precipitated the rudimentary membranes of early cells at the very beginning of life.”

Fatty acids in the early stages of life

Long chemical molecules called fatty acids have sections that both attract and repel water. As a result, these molecules would naturally form cell-like compartments in water, and these molecules may be the source of the first cell membranes. However, in the early stages of life, the origin of these fatty acids remained unknown, despite their significance. One theory is that they may have developed at the hydrothermal vents, which are areas where hot water and hydrogen-rich fluids from underwater vents combine with CO2-containing seawater.

The group replicated critical components of the chemical environment present in early Earth’s oceans and the mixing of the hot alkaline water from around specific kinds of hydrothermal vents in their laboratory. They found that the kinds of molecules required to build primitive cell membranes were produced when hot, hydrogen-rich fluids were combined with carbon dioxide-rich water in the presence of iron-based minerals that were present on early Earth.

Dr Purvis added, “Central to life’s inception are cellular compartments, crucial for isolating internal chemistry from the external environment. These compartments were instrumental in fostering life-sustaining reactions by concentrating chemicals and facilitating energy production, potentially serving as the cornerstone of life’s earliest moments. The results suggest that the convergence of hydrogen-rich fluids from alkaline hydrothermal vents with bicarbonate-rich waters on iron-based minerals could have precipitated the rudimentary membranes of early cells at the very beginning of life. This process might have engendered a diversity of membrane types, some potentially serving as life’s cradle when life first started. Moreover, this transformative process might have contributed to the genesis of specific acids found in the elemental composition of meteorites.”

Principal Investigator Dr Jon Telling, Reader in Biogeochemistry, at the School of Natural Environmental Sciences, added, “We think that this research may provide the first step in how life originated on our planet. Research in our laboratory now continues determining the second key step; how these organic molecules which are initially ‘stuck’ to the mineral surfaces can lift off to form spherical membrane-bounded cell-like compartments; the first potential ‘protocells’ that went on to form the first cellular life.”

Interestingly, the scientists also suggest that membrane-forming processes like these might still be occurring in the oceans beneath the ice moons in our solar system today. This suggests that these far-off worlds may have different life origins.

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Light pollution, or excessive artificial light at night, is now recognised as a major driver of
environmental change, adversely impacting wildlife and even human health. But predicting how
entire communities of plants and animals respond to light pollution is difficult. Published today
(30 October) in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, the world’s longest
running scientific journal, a team of Guest Editors that includes researchers from Newcastle
University have compiled a theme issue titled ‘light pollution in complex ecological systems’
that draws together 17 papers from experts in the field.
Professor Darren Evans from the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, who is a Guest
Editor and author of three of the published papers, said: “Street lights, vehicles, commercial
buildings and domestic sources are all contributing to night-time light pollution, and it is
becoming increasingly clear that it affects a range of plants and animals, including humans. But
most studies to date have tended to look at the responses of individual species, rather than
looking at the responses of whole communities at the ecosystem scale. This theme issue goes
some way to addressing that gap.”
The collection of studies in the theme issue aims to dive deeper into how light pollution affects
the natural environment. Newly published articles investigate light pollution ecology at various
scales and in a range of environments, from single processes to whole communities, to better
understand the relationship between light pollution, ecological balance, and human influence.
Drawing on a decade of research on the topic, Professor Evans said: “We were the first to show
that street lighting disrupts pollinating moths, revealing shifts in moth activity in street-lit areas
from vegetation level to lamp-post height and the impact this is having on their ability to
pollinate flowers.
“We then found direct evidence that street lights impact local insect populations, cutting
numbers by 50%. We found eco-friendly’ light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights are even more
harmful for insect populations than the traditional sodium bulbs they are replacing.’
Street lights are not only a major source of direct light pollution emissions, but stock has been
transitioning to LED technology in many parts of the world, resulting in increases in the blue
part of the visible spectrum that is more harmful to biodiversity and human health. But in an
article titled ‘Mitigating the impacts of street lighting on biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning’ Professor Evans argues that there are some simple solutions to this growing
problem. He said: “LEDs can be modified more easily than conventional sodium lamps by
adjusting their intensity, spectral output and other features of street light systems’ but added
‘research in this area has been slow.”

Ongoing research conducted by Newcastle University students using experimental lighting rigs
at NU Farms (Cockle Park) has shown the potential for mitigation experiments, as invertebrate
communities respond very quickly and measurably to LED lights.
Professor Evans said: “We are now at a stage where we would like to work with industry in
designing both street and domestic lamps that filter out the blue part of the spectrum that is
harmful to wildlife and people.” He added; “We would also like to develop bulbs that are less
attractive to disease carrying insects in malaria hotspots.”

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The research team, which also involved scientists at Durham University, used satellite data and radio-echo sounding techniques to map a 32,000 km2 area of land underneath the vast ice sheet.

They discovered a landscape that appears to have been formed by rivers at least 14 million years ago and possibly even before the initial growth of the East Antarctic ice around 34 million years ago.

This newly discovered landscape consists of ancient valleys and ridges, not dissimilar in size-and-scale to the glacially-modified landscape of North Wales, UK. Its existence implies a long-term temperature stability of the ice sheet in the area investigated by the researchers.

A satellite image showing the ridges and valleys of the ancient landscape, with the ridges highlighted in red and the valleys highlighted in blue.

The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.  Co-author Neil Ross, Professor of Polar Science and Environmental Geophysics at Newcastle University, said: “It is remarkable that this landscape, ‘hidden in plain sight’ for many years, can tell us so much about the early, and long-term, history of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, as well as helping us to understand how it might evolve in response to future climate change.  This has been something of a slow burn project, but one that has now come to fruition in an exciting paper involving a great research team.”

Graphic above ‘lifts’ the East Antarctic Ice Sheet off the bed landscape and highlights the study area

Co-author Professor Stewart Jamieson, in the Department of Geography, Durham University, said: “The land underneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is less well known than the surface of Mars.

“And that’s a problem because that landscape controls the way that ice in Antarctica flows, and it controls the way it might respond to past, present and future climate change.

“So, we’re investigating a small part of that landscape in more detail to see what it can tell us about the evolution of the landscape and the evolution of the ice sheet.  And what we find is an ancient land surface that has not been eroded by the ice sheet and instead it looks like it was created by rivers before the ice came along.

“This tells us that there hasn’t been a lot of change in this particular area, which indicates that although this part of the ice sheet may have retreated during warmer times in the past, the conditions at this site likely did not change much, and that helps us understand how the ice sheet might respond to future and ongoing warming.”

The discovery builds on previous work by this team who, in collaboration with other researchers, have mapped out hidden mountain ranges, canyon systems and lakes beneath the ice in Antarctica.

Although the landscape beneath the ice sheet is not visible to the naked eye, satellite images captured over the region show small undulations of the ice sheet’s surface that provide clues about the sub-ice landscape.

In a few places, the landscape’s existence has been confirmed by using radio-echo sounding from planes to see through the ice and map the shape of the land beneath the ice sheet.

The plane flown over Antarctica to collect the original survey data that underpins the new research paper. Credit: ICECAP

The research team proposes it is likely that there will be other, as yet undiscovered, ancient landscapes hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Professor Jamieson added: “We’ll continue exploring the landscape, doing our best to fill in gaps where surveys don’t exist, and using that information to understand how the ice sheet and its underlying landscape have changed over their long history.”

The survey data collection that underpins this work was supported by the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA.

Reference: ‘An ancient river landscape preserved beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet’ by Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Neil Ross, Guy J. G. Paxman, Fiona J. Clubb, Duncan A. Young, Shuai Yan,Jamin Greenbaum, Donald D. Blankenship, Martin J. Siegert  Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42152-2

ABOUT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY: Newcastle University, UK, is a thriving international community of more than 28,000 students from over 130 countries worldwide. As a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the UK, Newcastle has a world-class reputation for research excellence in the fields
of medicine, science and engineering, social sciences and the humanities. Its academics are sharply focused on responding to the major challenges facing society today. Our research and teaching are world-leading in areas as diverse as health, culture, technology and the environment. Newcastle University is committed to providing our students with excellent, research-led teaching delivered by dedicated
and passionate teachers. Newcastle University is ranked 110th in the QS World Ranking 2024 and 139th in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2023.

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Improving financial risk analysis with computing research and AI Newcastle University researchers are part of a new programme set to transform U.K.’s national-level financial risk analysis by providing radical new computational capabilities.

In India, financial risk analysis has significantly advanced. Thanks to the combination of computing research and artificial intelligence (AI). Indian scholars and organizations have tapped into AI technology to improve risk assessment and management considering the nation’s expanding fintech industry and the growing significance of data-driven decision-making in finance. The efficient use of artificial intelligence (AI) models
in a variety of financial risk-related areas can increase data processing speed, deepen data analysis, and lower labor costs, thus increasing the effectiveness of financial risk control.

Event-triggered computing, a novel computational model predicated on speed and nearly continuous scalability, is what powers these new capabilities. Artificial intelligence, another layer, is capable of learning from massive, erratic, and dynamic data sets. The study will also investigate practical uses for the new technology.

Together, these layers will make proactive and real-time risk analysis possible, which could lead to important developments in market control, corporate practice, and regulatory policy.

SONNETS – Scalability Oriented Novel Networks of Event-Triggered Systems – brings together experts from Newcastle University, the University of Southampton (the overall project lead institution), and Imperial College London. Beginning in October 2023, SONNETS is scheduled. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK will contribute £6.5 million to the £7.5 million initiative.

Professor Alex Yakovlev, Dr. Kabita Adhikari, and Dr. Rishad Shafik make up the Newcastle University team. Using event-triggered computing, the specialists will create machine learning systems on a nationwide scale.

Dr. Rishad Shafik, Newcastle University lead and Reader in Electronic Systems at the School of Engineering said, “Modelling risk for one bank is a difficult problem, and modeling the entire UK is much harder. Banks have complex, constantly changing portfolios, so building a picture of ‘who owns what’ means tracking millions of trades per day. Even if we have that picture, we still need to somehow assess risk, but that requires anticipating the future: we must pre-emptively identify potential scenarios, then estimate how much is lost in each scenario.”

He further added, “SONNETS will create a system that performs national-level risk analysis in real-time, by building a ‘digital twin’ of the UK’s financial system and using it to continually generate plausible future scenarios and assess their risk. We then use low-complexity artificial intelligence inspired by Tsetlin machines to learn what risky scenarios look like. We have international leadership in this area.”

Pioneering Research

Newcastle University School of Engineering Professor Alex Yakovlev, who specializes in computer system design, continued, "Newcastle is worldwide renowned for cutting- edge research in asynchronous and low-power machine learning employing the concepts of Tsetlin machine. For instance, the last two REF competitions, where we received 4* scores for our impact case studies, have validated our research’s brilliance in the area of asynchronous systems and their relevance to the financial sector. The one in REF 2014 had shown how the majority of transactions on the NYSE and NASDAQ depended on switch silicon technology developed by industry top vendor Intel Corporation using our asynchronous design methodology and tools based on Petri nets. Then, in REF 2021, we showed off our Workcraft design tools that were applied to extend battery life and boost reliability in hundreds of billions of consumer electronics devices, including mobile phones and internet-of-things devices.”

He continued, “Now, combining our knowledge and understanding of the principles of Mikhail Tsetlin’ s learning automata, developed in the USSR in the 1960s, with our expertise in designing low-power logic circuits, we are in a strong position to develop super energy efficient technology for highly distributed, event-triggered, and naturally interpretable machine learning computational platforms for future super-complex data analysis”.

ABOUT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY: Newcastle University, UK, is a thriving international community of more than 28,000 students from over 130 countries worldwide. As a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the UK, Newcastle has a world-class reputation for research excellence in the fields of medicine, science and engineering, social sciences and the humanities. Its academics are sharply focused on responding to the major challenges facing society today. Our research and teaching are world-leading in areas as diverse as health, culture, technology and the environment. Newcastle University is committed to providing our students with excellent, research-led teaching delivered by dedicated and passionate teachers. Newcastle University is ranked 110th in the QS World Ranking 2024 and 139th in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2023.

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The Newcastle University-led team focused on the Ganges and Mekong basins and evaluated the simulation of tropical storms. Their analyses show an increase in tropical storms frequency up until the early 2010s but that climate models project a frequency decline of over 50% on average across both basins by 2050.
In contrast, the results from high resolution climate models show an increase in the future intensity of tropical storms for both basins, with the largest increases for the most intense tropical storms.

These findings can be used to assess the future resilience of existing infrastructure systems to tropical storms across these densely populated basins.

The team, involving scientists from the Met Office and the University of Reading, published their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The scientists used European Union Horizon 2020 project PRIMAVERA models, which are available at up to 25 km resolution. They also employed two storm tracking algorithms, TRACK and TempExt.

Study lead author, Dr Haider Ali, of Newcastle University’s School of Engineering, said: “Tropical storms are one of the world’s most damaging natural hazards which result in colossal socioeconomic losses to life, infrastructure and property, especially in low-lying delta rivers basins like the Ganges and Mekong.
“Knowledge of changes to tropical storms activity under climate change can therefore be helpful in developing better disaster risk mitigation and for climate adaptation. Previous modelling studies have used coarse-resolution global climate models unable to capture key tropical storm characteristics.
“In this study, we used finer resolution models and two different tracking algorithms to resolve a part of this uncertainty.”

Study author, Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts, Newcastle University School of Engineering, added: “Our results are consistent with those found for tropical storms and Tropical Cyclones in the Atlantic Basin, where they also project an overall decline in frequency but an increase in the frequency of the most intense TCs. These systems cause massive impacts on society from high winds, rainfall and storm surges causing flooding. Quantifying these changes will allow us to better plan for future events.”

Implications for Climate Adaptation Policies
The Ganges and Mekong basins are two significant river systems in Asia that play vital roles in the lives of millions of people living in the region. The basins are essential for agriculture, water supply, and transportation.

However, both the Ganges and Mekong basins are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including changes in precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and sea-level rise.
The authors say that developing our knowledge about the characteristics of future tropical storms is crucial in informing climate adaptation strategies to safeguard communities and critical infrastructure. They add that understanding changes to tropical storm activity in the future can support effective adaptation planning and risk assessment, particularly in densely populated low-lying delta rivers basins like the Ganges and Mekong.

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A Newcastle University-led study focused on the Pacific Island nation of Palau and has shown that historic increases in the thermal tolerance of coral reefs are possible.

Coral reefs in one part of the Pacific Ocean have likely adjusted to higher ocean temperatures which could reduce future bleaching impacts of climate change, new research reveals.

A study done by Newcastle University that focused on the Pacific island nation of Palau has demonstrated that coral reef heat tolerance has historically increased. The findings show how, if global carbon emissions are reduced, this capacity could lessen the effects of bleaching in the future.

Drawing on decades of field observations, the scientists modelled many possible future coral bleaching trajectories for Palauan reefs, each with a different simulated rate of thermal tolerance enhancement. They found that if coral thermal tolerance continues to rise throughout the 21st century at the most-likely historic rate, significant reductions in bleaching impacts are possible.

Published in the journal, Nature Communications, the results affirm the scientific consensus that the severity of future coral bleaching depends on carbon emissions reductions. High-frequency bleaching can be fully mitigated at some reefs under low-to-middle emissions scenarios where, for example, the Paris Agreement commitments are fulfilled. However, such bleaching impacts are unavoidable under high emissions scenarios where society continues to rely on fossil-fuelled development.

Study lead author, Liam Lachs, is part of Newcastle University’s Coralassist lab. “Our study indicates the presence of an ecological resilience to climate change, yet also highlights the need to fulfill Paris Agreement commitments to effectively preserve coral reefs,” Lachs said. “We quantified a natural increase in coral thermal tolerance over decadal time scales which can be directly compared to the rate of ocean warming. While our work offers a glimmer of hope, it also emphasizes the need for continued action on reducing carbon emissions to mitigate climate change and secure a future for these vital ecosystems.”

Study co-author, Dr James Guest, of Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, added: “We know that coral reefs can increase their overall thermal tolerance over time by acclimatisation, genetic adaptation or shifts in community structure, however we know very little about the rates at which this is occurring. This study uses data from a remote Pacific coral reef system and estimates the rate of increase in tolerance since the late 1980s. The results provide some hope that reefs can keep up with increasing temperatures, but only if strong action is taken on climate change.”

This study was the result of a collaborative visit the lead author undertook in 2021 to work with Professor Simon Donner’s Climate and Coastal Ecosystems Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, Canada. “This study shows the potential for some coral reefs to become more resilient to future climate change-fuelled heat waves,” Prof. Donner said. “That resilience, however, can also come at a cost, in terms of reduced reef diversity and growth. Without sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next two to three decades, the reefs in the Pacific won’t provide the resources and protection from waves that Pacific peoples have depended upon for centuries.”

The future of coral reefs
Coral reefs harbour remarkable levels of biodiversity, yet also face unprecedented declines due to marine heatwaves and resulting mass coral bleaching and mortality events. To persist under climate change, coral communities need to endure progressively more intense and frequent marine heatwaves.

The rate at which the thermal tolerance of coral reefs can increase naturally and whether this can match the pace of ocean warming has remained largely unknown. To fill this knowledge gap and offer insights into the future resilience of coral communities, the team from Newcastle University investigated historic mass bleaching events, with a focus on the case study of Palau, a remote Pacific coral reef system.

The study also tested different levels of global action to mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions, investigating four emissions scenarios and their impact on future coral bleaching projections.
The findings reveal that the thermal tolerance of corals in Palau has likely increased at a rate of 0.1 °C per decade since the late 1980s. This increase suggests that natural mechanisms, such as genetic adaptation or acclimatization of corals or their symbiotic microalgae, could have contributed to the enhancement of coral thermal tolerance. Study co-author Prof. Peter Mumby of the University of Queensland and Palau International Coral Reef Center reflects that “some of the upcoming challenges will be to disentangle which mechanisms have driven these potential shifts in tolerance, and to understand the possibility of continued future increases in thermal tolerance.”

Reference
Emergent increase in coral thermal tolerance reduces mass bleaching under climate change. Nature Communications. Liam Lachs, Simon Donner, Peter J. Mumby, John C. Bythell, Adriana Humanes, Holly K. East, James R. Guest https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40601-6

ABOUT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY: Newcastle University, UK, is a thriving international community of more than 28,000 students from over 130 countries worldwide. As a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the UK, Newcastle has a world-class reputation for research excellence in the fields of medicine, science and engineering, social sciences and the humanities. Its academics are sharply focused on responding to the major challenges facing society today. Our research and teaching are world-leading in areas as diverse as health, culture, technology and the environment. Newcastle University is committed to providing our students with excellent, research-led teaching delivered by dedicated and passionate teachers. Newcastle University is ranked 110th in the QS World Ranking 2024 and 139th in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2023.

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