Scientists are building walls of willow trees in the Southern French Alps gullies to trap dirt that blocks hydroelectric dams downstream. Sediment in rainwater washes off the steep valley slopes in the Francon marly basin into gullies. These smaller waterways then feed larger rivers. When the water reaches the slower-moving reservoirs above dams, the sediment drops out and settles behind the barra ...[Read More]
Visit the Exhibition at the General Assembly
Today is the last full day to visit the Exhibition at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013! Exhibition booths for companies, publishers, research facilities, scientific societies, among others, are scattered throughout the blue (basement), yellow (ground floor), and green (first floor) levels of the Austria Center Vienna. Make sure you don’t miss the EGU Booth in the Blue Lev ...[Read More]
Thursday at the General Assembly
Welcome to the fourth day of General Assembly excitement! Once again the day is packed with great events for you to attend – be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here. Short courses! Today there’s a whole host of them, including a panel discussion on using blogs and social media in scientific r ...[Read More]
Bookends on Planetary Atmosphere
New results presented this week at the EGU General Assembly have scientists adjusting the assumptions that have longed acted as bookends on the way we understand the evolution of planetary atmospheres. On one side, researchers have identified a previously unrecognised greenhouse effect that could have warmed the early Earth. On the other, the Curiosity rover has uncovered evidence that Mars has lo ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: Sylvian LeDuc on Why Woody Biofuels Wouldn’t be the Best Plan for the EU
Biofuels are set to replace 10 per cent of EU transportation fuel by 2020. Yet, the long-term sustainability of first generation biofuels, made from grains and vegetable oils, has raised concerns as production starts to compete with food supplies. Attention has now turned to second generation biofuels, produced from non-edible sources such as wood or waste plant residual like straw. In the next de ...[Read More]
Wednesday at the General Assembly
We’re halfway through the General Assembly already! Once again there is lots on offer at EGU 2013 and this is just a taster – be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here. One thing we’ve been looking forward to is this year’s Great Debate on shale gas – “to frack, or not to frack?”, that is indee ...[Read More]
Supermodels!
You’ve probably heard of supermodels like Heidi Klum and Kate Moss, but have you heard of SUMO? It’s an abbreviation for a project called Super Modeling by Combining Imperfect Models, and although it doesn’t sound nearly as glamorous, it may mean big things for climate modeling. This innovative approach, pioneered by an interdisciplinary group of scientists from around the world, seeks to build on ...[Read More]
The EGU Booth – come and find us!
You can find the EGU Booth in Hall X on the blue level. This is the place to come if you’d like to meet members of EGU boards (Meet EGU) and find out more about EGU outreach activities. Here you can discover EGU open access journals, including the latest addition to the EGU family, Earth Surface Dynamics, browse the EGU blogs (GeoLog and the EGU Blog Network), learn how to connect with us on ...[Read More]
Tuesday at the General Assembly
Welcome back to the second day of the 2013 General Assembly! With so many excellent sessions, it isn’t easy selecting highlights, here’s just some of the great sessions on offer today. Make sure you complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here. Why not venture outside of your comfort zone and investigate som ...[Read More]
Photo finalists! Do you have a favourite?
The selection committee received close to 200 photos for this year’s EGU Photo Competition, covering fields across the geosciences. The stunning finalist photos are below and they are being exhibited in Hall X (basement, Blue Level) of the Austria Center Vienna, where you will also find voting terminals. Do you have a favourite? Vote for it! The results will be announced on Friday 12 April d ...[Read More]