Over half the world’s population lives in cities. Many a metropolis rises high above carpets of concrete and tarmac, vibrant, bustling, and prosperous. But this urban environment comes with many a problem. From poor air quality to hazardous temperatures, there are several dangers present in urban environments. Scientists speaking at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna earlier ...[Read More]
How can we source and use Earth resources in an ethical and responsible way? And how can we bring different actors and communities together to achieve sustainable resource development? These are just some of the questions that early career researchers from around the world came together to discuss during the inaugural Researching Social Theories, Resources, and the Environment International Summer ...[Read More]
Rock salt stalactites (Speleothems) are the indicators of entrance in a salt cave. These crystal stalactites precipitate from brine only at the entrance in the salt caves, as that is the only place where the physical and chemical properties of the air and the brine dripping from the ceiling allow these crystals to grow and be preserved. And they are extremely fragile – if there is just a sma ...[Read More]
The recent European Parliament election illustrated how divided Europe has become politically and intergenerationally. While the established parties lost their ground, both far-right populistic, anti-EU and liberal, green pro-EU parties grew in popularity among voters1, with the younger generation favoring the latter and the generations above the former2. What role is there for science in this div ...[Read More]
The Carpenter 1 fire burned approximately 11,000 ha in the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest) near Las Vegas, Nevada between July 1, 2013 and its containment on August 18, 2013. The left side of the photo shows the fire affected arid desert scrub ecosystems at 1500 m (foreground) to subalpine pine ecosystems at 3400 m (background). The foreground of the pho ...[Read More]
On the south-western coast of the Isle of Skye, Scotland, lies Loch Coruisk, supposedly home of a water horse. At the southern end of this freshwater Loch, the Scavaig River discharges into a sea Loch, Loch na Cuilce. Loch Coruisk snuggles close to the center of the Cuillin Hills complex, younger than both the northern and southern formations of the Isle. At present, the neighbouring hills are dom ...[Read More]
Close your eyes and try to imagine first thing which comes to your mind, when somebody says “Tundra”. What would you imagine? Being a master student, I imagined cold, flat and a dead field. In fact, Tundra turn out to be completely different, at least in September 2010, when I and my colleagues were lucky to visit it. As it is well known from textbooks no big trees grows in Tundra, how ...[Read More]
This picture was taken in the Arctic in May 2018. It shows the unmanned marine vehicle Proteus in front of the tidewater glacier Conwaybreen in the Kongsfjorden in Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago. The front of tidewater glaciers is an almost vertical wall of ice standing over the sea where direct measurements are very critical due to the possibility of sudden fall of enormous blocks of ice ...[Read More]
This side view of Half Dome at Yosemite National Park (California, USA) was taken from Washburn Point, a less frequented overlook a few hundred meters away from the popular Glacier Point outlook. The sun just on the right side behind the camera, which gave the orange tint to the back side of Half Dome. At the same time a full moon was mere minutes from bursting in the background, which resulted in ...[Read More]
At the annual EGU General Assembly in April, more than 16,000 scientists from 113 countries convened in Vienna to share exciting research and discuss the latest advances in their field. During this conference, the EGU hosted two artists in residence to engage with scientific research in a dynamic setting and be inspired by new scientific discoveries. This year, we interviewed the 2019 artists in r ...[Read More]