The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are created as charged particles interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. These electrons are part of the solar wind and as they pass through the Earth’s magnetic shield (the magnetosphere); the charged particles collide with those in our atmosphere, emitting light. In the southern hemisphere this phenomenon is known as the aurora australis, but both are caus ...[Read More]
Introducing the new EGU Bloggers!
Since it started, the EGU Blog Network has had great coverage of geochemistry, palaeontology and geoscience in global development, but what about the other fields in the geosciences? Well, over the past couple of months we’ve been seeking out some fantastic Earth science bloggers who are keen to share their knowledge, experiences and the latest research in their fields with you. They’ve put togeth ...[Read More]
Geoengineering and (un)making the world we want to live in
Geoengineering and its policy implications were hot topics at this year’s Science in Public conference. The subject raised questions such as how is geoengineering portrayed in the media and what does this mean for the acceptance of geoengineering technologies? Dr Rusi Jaspal and Professor Brigitte Nerlich discuss their research into media representations of geoengineering and how these shape the ...[Read More]
Dust in the desert: The Skeleton Coast – Foggy, dusty & demanding – part 3 of 3
In this third instalment in this series our journey takes us into the Skeleton Coast. Synonymous with shipwrecks and known as “The Land God Made in Anger” to indigenous Bushmen this coastal desert has been protected as a National Park since 1971. Similar to many of Namibia’s National Parks, the Skeleton Coast does not allow anyone to stay overnight within its boundaries. However at over 16,000 km2 ...[Read More]