GeoLog

Climate

A chunk of ice the size of Amsterdam: how the calving of Greenland’s glaciers has changed since the 2010 Petermann Glacier event

August 4, 2023
A chunk of ice the size of Amsterdam: how the calving of Greenland’s glaciers has changed since the 2010 Petermann Glacier event
In this image taken on August 16, 2010, the ice island continues its migration down the fjord. NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team and the United States Geological Survey, via NASA Earth Observatory

Thirteen years ago, a roughly 251 km2 chunk of ice (or 97 miles2) broke off Greenland’s Petermann Glacier. This Amsterdam-sized piece of ice was the largest to calve in the Arctic since 1962. The massive iceberg traversed the Nares Strait, which lies between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, and into the northern part of Baffin Bay—the northwestern-most arm of the Atlantic Ocean, before eve ...[Read More]

Why single solution strategies cannot solve the plastic pollution problem

June 2, 2023
Why single solution strategies cannot solve the plastic pollution problem
Credit: David Jones (from imaggeo.egu.eu)

It appears that plastics have well and truly invaded even our most inaccessible environments: the deepest point in the ocean (the Mariana trench) and the highest mountain peak in the world (Mt. Everest) both contain pieces of plastic from human activities miles away. With plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems expected to nearly triple by 2040, it is safe to say that nature is in “emergency ...[Read More]

Seaweed: an unlikely but promising food solution in nuclear winter?

May 17, 2023
Seaweed: an unlikely but promising food solution in nuclear winter?
Florian Ulrich Jehn, Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED), Delaware, USA and Justus-Liebig-University, Gießen, Germany, presents at EGU23 Press Conference

A few weeks ago, at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly EGU23, a group of researchers from different disciplines briefed the media about the impact of war on the oceans, sands, and people. Among them, Florian Ulrich Jehn’s presentation stood out for its rather unlikely proposition: that seaweed appeared to be a promising candidate as a resilient food solution in nuclear winter. I ...[Read More]

Do changes in Arctic climate variability severely impact migratory birds?

April 28, 2023
Do changes in Arctic climate variability severely impact migratory birds?
Nomikos Skyllas from the University of Groningen presents his research at EGU23. Credit: Caitrin Pilkington

Changes in Arctic climate variability and extremes may have significant impacts for migratory birds, according to a study presented at EGU23 by Nomikos Skyllas, a PhD student from the University of Groningen. Many species cross continents during their seasonal migration patterns, travelling from as far as Africa and South America to northern regions such as Siberia and the Canadian Arctic. If you’ ...[Read More]