Cryospheric Sciences

Looking back at the EGU Blogs in 2016: a competition

Laura Roberts-Artal December 23, 2016

Image modified from Moonscape by Alvaro Folhas (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The past 12 months has seen an impressive 360 posts published across the EGU’s official blog, GeoLog, as well as the network and division blogs. From a lighthearted Aprils Fools’ Day post featuring an extreme chromatic phenomenon (otherwise known as FIB); through to how climate change is affecting mountain plant’s sex ratios; features on natural hazard events throughout the year and children’s dis ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: Using satellites to unravel the secrets of our planet’s polar regions

Laura Roberts-Artal December 16, 2016

The Cryosat satellite

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Bert Wouters, a polar scientist at the University of Utrecht, and winner of one of the 2016 Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding Young Scientists. At a time when the polar regions are facing increasing challenges resulting from climate change, understanding how they might respond to them ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: The complex links between shrinking sea ice and cloud cover

Laura Roberts-Artal December 2, 2016

Sea ice breaking on the Chukchi Sea, Barrow, July 2014

Sea Ice . Credit: Scott Davidson (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The global climate system is complex. It is composed of, and governed by, a plethora of interconnect factors. Solar radiation, land surface, ice cover, the atmosphere and living things, as well as wind and ocean currents, play a crucial role in the climate system. These factors are intricately connected; changes to some can have significant effects on others, leading to overall consequences for th ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: White rainbow in the Arctic

Laura Roberts-Artal November 28, 2016

“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)

Despite heading into the long polar night – the time when the sun doesn’t shine in the globe’s most northerly latitudes and when temperatures drop and thick sheets of sea ice form -the Arctic is reported to be 20° C warmer than average for this time of year. Never has it been more important to understand the effects of climate change on Polar Regions. Mikhail Varentsov, a climate and meteor ...[Read More]