HS
Hydrological Sciences
Bettina Schaefli

Bettina Schaefli

Bettina Schaefli is a professor for hydrology at University of Bern (Switzerland). She was the head of the Catchment Hydrology Subdivision of EGU from 2016-2019 and was an editor of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2008-2022). She has been the lead editor of the Hydrology Blog since 2018.

World Water Day & World Glacier Day

March 19, 2025
World Water Day & World Glacier Day
Logo of the 2025 UN World Water Day

The this year’s UN World Water Day on 22 March 2025 is under the theme of ‘Glacier Preservation’, a nice opportunity to recall that 2025 is also the UN year on glacier preservation and that this year, we celebrate the first World Glaciers Day on 21 March 2025. Glaciers play the role of ambassadors for climate change awareness, highlighting the urgent need for global action to protect these vital f ...[Read More]

Communicating science to the public – an example after the recent floods in Germany

January 25, 2024
Communicating science to the public – an example after the recent floods in Germany
Extensive flooding in the Emsland flood area, photo: Flugschule Dankern

After the wet December 2023, the year 2024 started with widespread flooding in parts of Europe. Flooding during winter times is not unusual but brings particular challenges in terms of spatial extent, and the impact on people can be exacerbated when flooding comes with very low temperatures. The exceptionally wet and warm winter necessarily triggers questions from the public about how this links t ...[Read More]

May the year-end be Exceptional, not only hydrologically!

December 21, 2023
May the year-end be Exceptional, not only hydrologically!
Generated with DreamStudio, "beautiful rainy christmas in a river catchment"

What a hydrological year it has been!  From the winter drought and flash floods detailed in Matano and Avanzi‘s blog post to the remarkably warm and wet November 2023, Europe has witnessed a range of extraordinary weather phenomena. In the Alpine region, the convergence of warm and wet weather resulted in numerous rain-on-snow events (see eg. the streamflow recording below), offering valuabl ...[Read More]