EGU Scientific Divisions

A geoscience reality check on World Biofuels Day

Asmae Ourkiya August 10, 2026

Photo by Peter Leth. Source: Unsplash

On a humid morning in Augsburg, Germany, on August 10, 1893, a ten-foot iron cylinder roared to life for the first time. The engine belonged to Sir Rudolf Diesel, and running through its veins was not the petroleum distillate we associate with his name today, but in fact, peanut oil! Diesel’s early experiment proved something revolutionary for the late Industrial Revolution: the engines driving hu ...[Read More]

Thirty years after Biescas: Rethinking alluvial fan flooding and infrastructure failure

Asmae Ourkiya August 7, 2026

Aftermath of the 1999 Carbadella flooding. Source: NHESS journal.

Thirty years ago, in August 1996, a catastrophic flash flood swept through the Las Nieves campsite on the alluvial fan of the Barranco de Aras near Biescas in the Central Pyrenees of Aragón, Spain. The tragedy claimed 87 lives and injured over 180 people. This makes it one of the most severe weather-related disasters in modern European history. In the decades following the disaster, geoscientists ...[Read More]

Reflecting on fifty years of Mars through Viking 1’s lens

Asmae Ourkiya July 30, 2026

Collecting Samples on Mars by Maria Grulich. Source: Imaggeo

On July 20, 1976, a machine of steel and titanium dropped through a thin atmosphere and touched the dirt of Chryse Planitia. Scientists at NASA held their breath, since five years earlier, the Soviet Union’s Mars 3 probe had died less than two minutes after touchdown. To mitigate this nightmare, engineers programmed Viking 1 to scan its own footpad first. If the lander sank into oblivion, hu ...[Read More]

Mangroves at the edge: Coastal ecosystems in a year of climate extremes

Guilherme Abuchahla July 24, 2026

Mangroves, Kilim Geological park Penang, Malaysia Photo credit: Dr. Asmae Ourkiya. Source: Imaggeo

This Sunday, July 26, marks the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. We are currently experiecing critical crossroads globally, where groundbreaking data on global forest recovery collides with the immediate threats of an escalating climate crisis.El Niño is pushing Pacific sea surface temperatures toward levels that rank among the highest on record, and climate specia ...[Read More]