The terrestial water cycle leaves traces in the Earth’s gravity field The current onset of el Nino is raising hope in California to replenish some of its multiyear water deficit. Due to the warm pool of water on the East side of the Pacific, more rain, and consequently also larger potential for flooding is expected. At the other side of the Pacific, the water is colder than usual leading to ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Image of the Week: Atmospheric CO2 from ice cores
The measurements of atmospheric CO2 levels at Manu Loa, Hawaii read 401.01ppm on the 7th of December this year. To understand the significance of this number, you just need to look at the figure above from the 4th IPCC report. It shows the changes in CO2 concentrations during the past 800,000 years based on ice core measurements. Values have fluctuated between 190ppm and 280ppm. In other words, bo ...[Read More]
GeoLog
The Sustainable Geoscientist – how many papers should academics really be publishing?
In this guest blog post, Nick Arndt, Professor at the Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Grenoble University, reflects on the pressures on academics to publish more and more papers, and whether the current scientific output is sustainable. Imagine a highly productive car factory. Thousands of vehicles are built and each is tested as it leaves the factory; then it is stored in an enormous parking l ...[Read More]
Biogeosciences
The Panamanian Isthmus is not entirely guilty after all!
“According to new research, the land bridge connecting Central and South America rose more than 10 million years earlier than originally thought” Traditionally, closure of the Panama Isthmus has been deemed responsible for the co-occurrence of two major events: The large Pleistocene glaciations and the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). Existing evidence indicating a ca ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: Annapurna snow avalanche
The Annapurna massif is located in an imposing 55 km long collection of peaks in the Himalayas, which behave as a single structural block. Composed of one peak (Annapurna I Main) in excess of 8000 m, a further thirteen peaks over 7000 m and sixteen more of over 6000 m, the massif forms a striking structure within the Himalayas. Annapurna I Main, the tenth highest peak in the world, is towering at ...[Read More]
GeoLog
GeoTalk: Anastasia Tezari – understanding space weather
Weather – it dictates the clothes we wear, is engrained in our culture, shapes our seasons and plays an important role in our daily lives. Not only that, its long term forecast and understanding of its variability, is the focus of much research as it holds one of the keys to understanding the Earth’s past and future. Earthly weather has an altogether less familiar, but not less fascinating a ...[Read More]
Seismology
MantlePlumes.org website progress
The website www.mantleplumes.org focuses on the debate about whether plumes exist or not, and what other mechanisms could cause melting anomalies inside Earth.
GeoLog
GeoPolicy: An expert discussion on ozone – working at the science-policy interface
Erika von Schneidemesser is our first guest blogger for the newly established EGUPolicy column. Erika is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies based in Potsdam, Germany. Her post gives an insight into working at the science-policy interface by describing a recent project she has been involved in. As scientists and researchers we are increasingly being asked to c ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Communicate Your Science Video Competition is now open!
Want to communicate your research to a wider audience and try your hand at video production? Now’s your chance! The competition is open to early career scientists (ECS) who intend to register for the EGU General Assembly. The aim is to produce a video up-to-three-minutes long to share your research with the general public. The winning entry will receive a free registration to the General Assembly ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: Giants Causeway
Since its discovery back in the late 1600s the origin of the spectacular polygonal columns of the Giants Causeway, located on a headland along the northern coast of Ireland, has been heavily debated. Early theories for its origin ranged from being sculpted by men with picks and chisels, to the action of giants, through to the force of nature. It wasn’t until 1771 that Demarest, a Frenchman, sugges ...[Read More]