As future-focused as we like to be at EGU, we sometimes pause to look back at the year gone by – just a brief glimpse to appreciate all the good work of 2022! As always, we had so many inspiring and thought-provoking blog posts published this year across the EGU’s official blog GeoLog and division blogs. Thank you to each of you for your writing contribution! To continue our annual appreciation fo ...[Read More]
Climate: Past, Present & Future
When nature isn’t “natural”: Reflections on World Wetlands Day
In 1821, peat cutters discovered a body similar to a mummy, pinned down by two wooden stakes deep in the mud. The body’s face still held red hair and a beard, their teeth were well preserved, and a hoop of willow was wrapped around their throat. But this wasn’t the dry, hot climate of Egypt but a cold and rain-sodden bog of Ireland. Later assessment suggested that these were the remain ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: meet Francesco Avanzi, researcher in meltwater security!
Hi Francesco. Thanks for agreeing to this interview! To break the ice, could you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your research? Hey Simon! I’m an Italian hydrologist and earned a PhD at Politecnico di Milano with a dissertation on how snowmelt contributes to seasonal runoff. I then did a postdoc at UC Berkeley, California, where I collaborated with a major US hydropower company to improv ...[Read More]
Sustainable Energy Geoscientist reflects on UN’s COP27
This year, from 6 to 20 November, the United Nation’s COP27 took place in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The conference hosted several high-level and side events, key negotiations and press conferences, attended by more than 100 Heads of State and Governments and over 35,000 participants who deliberated climate action strategies around the world. I had the chance to speak with Dr Munira Raji about her ...[Read More]
Why do we keep dismissing drought?
“If you see me, then weep” Like the foreboding inscription witnessed by Dante as he passed through the gates of Hell, the inscription chiselled into the so-called “hunger stone” marks the passing of a threshold into suffering. As the hunger stone emerges from the dwindling waters of the Elbe River, Czechia, it reveals a history of desiccation. Where spiritual torment is pro ...[Read More]
Glacial lake outburst floods: What we know about this destructive ice hazard
Glacial lake outburst floods are among the most concerning consequences of retreating glaciers in mountain ranges around the world. Although the phenomenon isn’t a new one, it has increasingly become the focus of research efforts in the last two decades, with many scientists seeing these floods as an emblematic symptom of climate change. This blog sheds some light on this lesser-known geological e ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: Rock flour in suspension in Lake Louise
The waters of Lake Lousie in the Canadian Rockies are cold and fresh, supplied direct from the glaciers nestled in the mountains, but as the water from the glacier melts it carries with it tiny particles of rock dust that are also transported into the lake. As you can see in this image, the particulate rock matter, held in suspension in the lake, creates this beautiful pale turquoise colour, that ...[Read More]
GeoPolicy: Responding to the EU Nature Restoration Law
On 22 June 2022, the European Commission presented its proposal for the EU Nature Restoration Law with the aim to recover biodiverse and resilient nature across the EU. Like all new legislation, the EU Nature Restoration Law was proposed by the European Commission and underwent numerous rounds of feedback from the public, stakeholders, and organisations via the Commission’s Have your say pla ...[Read More]
Why hydrogen – the ‘fuel of the future’ – may not be as clean as we think
Around the world, the shift to hydrogen is being considered a key strategy to decarbonize the environment, with experts even calling it the fuel of the future. Hydrogen now features in all eight of the European Commission’s net zero emissions scenarios for 2050, promising to end our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions across industries. So it comes as no surprise that billions of e ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: meet Jarmo Kikstra, researcher in energy transition under climate change!
Hello Jarmo. Thank you for joining us for the interview today! Before we put our foot on the gas, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your research? Hi Simon, nice to meet you! Thanks for inviting me to chat with you about my research, and perhaps a bit about the person behind this research – it’s an honour! The basics; I was born in the Netherlands and lived in South Korea, the UK, ...[Read More]