GeoLog

Atmospheric Sciences

An overnight train view of China’s Anthropocene – Part 2

August 22, 2018
An overnight train view of China’s Anthropocene – Part 2
Tiananmen Square in Beijing, enveloped by heavy fog and haze. (Credit: Argonne National Laboratory, distributed via Flickr)

Science fiction is no match for industrial non-stop China. Electric bikes zip across the cities of Shanghai and Beijing, and soundtrack the neon nights with their passing whirr. Here, some kind of two-wheeled revolution has taken place which are we completely unaware of in the West. It’s Blade Runner meets Total Recall in a future which has already come to pass. The very existence of our ele ...[Read More]

An overnight train view of China’s Anthropocene – Part 1

August 15, 2018
An overnight train view of China’s Anthropocene – Part 1
Air pollution in Shanghai's Pudong region in July 2017. Credit: Conor Purcell

The nighttrain from Shanghai to Beijing is a comfortable affair. The train is new and clean. My travel partner and I can charge our phones and relax on soft beds. The railway is almost frictionless, and overall the experience is similar to any ride in the West. But outside, as the vehicle roars through the early night, things become increasingly hazy. As we reach further out from the Shanghai metr ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Refuge in a cloudscape

April 23, 2018
Imaggeo on Mondays: Refuge in a cloudscape
Refuge in a cloudscape. Credit: Julien Seguinot (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu )

The action of glaciers combined with the structure of the rock to form this little platform, probably once a small lake enclosed between a moraine at the mountain side and the ice in the valley. Now it has become a green haven in the mountain landscape, a perfect place for an alp. In the Alps, stratus clouds opening up on autumn mornings often create gorgeous light display. That day, some of the f ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: How will large Icelandic eruptions affect us and our environment?

March 16, 2018
GeoTalk: How will large Icelandic eruptions affect us and our environment?
Meet Anja Schmidt, the winner of a 2018 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists, pictured here in front of Teide volcano in Tenerife, Spain. Credit: Anja Schmidt.

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Anja Schmidt, an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Cambridge who draws from atmospheric science, climate modelling, and volcanology to better understand the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions. She is also the winner of a 2018 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Ea ...[Read More]