Climate

Imaggeo on Mondays: A spectacular rainbow

François Dulac December 11, 2017

Field scientist under a spectacular rainbow . Credit: François Dulac (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Back in February 2005, François Dulac and Rémi Losno worked in the field in the very remote Kerguelen Islands (also known as the Desolation Islands). Located in the southern Indian Ocean they are one, of the two, only exposed parts of the mostly submerged Kerguelen Plateau. Our work consisted in sampling atmospheric aerosols and their deposition by rain on the island, which is a meeting point for ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: A spectacular view of moss-covered rocks

Laura Roberts-Artal November 20, 2017

Isle of Skye cliff coast . Credit: Marius Ulm (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Geology has shaped the rugged landscape of the Isle of Skye – the largest island of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides archipelago. From the very old Precambrian rocks (approximately 2.8 billion years old) in the south of the island, through to the mighty glaciers which covered much of Scotland as recently as 14,700 years ago, the modestly-sized island provides a snap-shot through Earth’s dynamic his ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: COP23 – key updates and outcomes

Chloe Hill November 17, 2017

Rwanda's Delegation to the COP23 UN Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany. Credit: Ministry of Environment - Rwanda (distributed via Flickr).

What is COP23? Anthropogenic climate change is threatening life on this planet as we know it. It’s a global issue… and not one that is easily solved. The Conference of the Parties (COP) provides world leaders, policy workers, scientists and industry leaders with the space to share ideas and decide on how to tackle climate change and generate global transformative change. COP23 will predominantly f ...[Read More]

GeoSciences Column: The dirty business of shipping goods by sea

Laura Roberts-Artal November 10, 2017

“Above the foggy strip, this white arch was shining, covering one third of the visible sky in the direction of the ship's bow,” he explains. “It was a so-called white, or fog rainbow, which appears on the fog droplets, which are much smaller then rain droplets and cause different optic effects, which is a reason of its white colour.”

Gateway to the Arctic . Credit: Mikhail Varentsov (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Shipping goods across the oceans is cost-effective and super-efficient; that’s why over 80% of world trade is carried by sea (according to the International Maritime Organisation). But the shipping industry also contributes significant amounts of air pollutants to marine and coastal environments. A new study, published in the EGU’s open access journal Earth System Dynamics, reports on concentratio ...[Read More]