GeoLog

Energy, Resources and the Environment

Geosciences Column: Could plants be a cheap solution to soil contamination in developing countries?

There are many ways to remove contaminants from the land, but it is a constant battle for scientists to find better and cheaper ways to the job. Recent research published in Soild Earth suggests plants may present a solution – one that’s particularly promising for poor areas. Jane Robb describes the findings… Bolivia has a long and complicated mining history, going back to the 1500s. Untreated tai ...[Read More]

Climate-proofing the Netherlands

Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) fosters transatlantic relations, forges dialogue, and promotes leadership across energy and environmental policy landscapes. Former EGU Science Communications Fellow and ELEEP member Edvard Glücksman reports back from the Netherlands, where citizens manage the continuous threat of climate-related devastation through a combination of creat ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: Want a record of historical floods? Ask the taxman

Extreme weather events, like catastrophic floods, are the malicious exclamation points of Earth’s chaotic and variable climate system; they arrive without warning and extract huge costs, both economic and humanitarian, from the communities they strike. Evidence suggests the frequency and severity of these events may be on the rise in a changing climate, but scientists struggle to place modern even ...[Read More]

Defining the age of humans

We are currently changing our planet like never before. But do these changes deserve a new name? The Anthropocene – a geological period marking the length of time for which humans have had a significant impact on the planet – was first proposed in the 1980s. But the word has gained significant attention in recent years thanks to the popularising work of Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen. Hu ...[Read More]

Counterintuitive solutions improve public transportation and urban design in Seattle

The Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) Network brings together young professionals from Europe and North America with the aim of fostering transatlantic relations. Former EGU Science Communications Fellow and ELEEP member Edvard Glücksman reports back from a study tour of the US Pacific Northwest. After describing urban planning strategies in Oregon in his first post, here ...[Read More]

Improving quality of life through urban growth boundaries, 20-minute neighbourhoods, and public transportation in Oregon

The Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) Network brings together young professionals from Europe and North America with the aim of fostering transatlantic relations. Former EGU Science Communications Fellow and ELEEP member Edvard Glücksman reports back from a study tour of the US Pacific Northwest. In this first of two posts, he describes the unique urban planning strategy ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: A fly by some fantastic farming

This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays is brought to you by Kristof Van Oost, a scientist from the Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research (UCL) in Belgium. He tells us how local organic farms are being managed to ensure a lot of carbon stays in the soil… This is a picture of the organic farm Het Open Veld in Leuven, Belgium. The farm is built around an alternative agriculture model in whic ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: How sea urchins can help mitigate climate change

This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays stars the humble sea urchin – a creature suffering from the effects of climate change, but one that could also provide a way to sequester some of the CO2 responsible… Carbon dioxide and water react to form carbonic acid – a mixture of bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. Sea urchins bag the bicarbonate to grow bigger, stronger shells, or ‘tests’, but without a catalyst, th ...[Read More]

“Please, in my backyard”: Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg’s low-carbon overhaul at the forefront of Germany’s energy transition

The Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) Network brings together young professionals from Europe and North America with the aim of fostering transatlantic relations. Former EGU Science Communications Fellow and ELEEP member Edvard Glücksman describes a study visit to Hamburg’s Wilhelmsburg borough, an unlikely leader in within Germany’s energy transition. This is his final p ...[Read More]

‘Coaland’ – fossil fuel addiction, renewables envy and Poland’s energy future

The Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) Network brings together young professionals from Europe and North America with the aim of fostering transatlantic relations. As Warsaw prepared to host last month’s UN climate convention (COP19), ELEEP members, including former EGU Science Communications Fellow Edvard Glücksman, sat down for coffee with one of the early pioneers of Po ...[Read More]