Regular Features

Imaggeo on Mondays: A painted forest fire

Olivia Trani May 27, 2019

The art of Fire in soil system. Credit: Victoria Arcenegui (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

This week’s featured image may appear to be a painted landscape, but the picture is in fact a photo, taken ten years ago by Victoria Arcenegui, an associate professor at Miguel Hernández University in Spain, during a controlled forest fire in northern Portugal. The blaze is actually hot enough to distort the image, making some of the flames appear as brush strokes, beautifully blurring together th ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: Fake news and populism – a threat to science in Europe

Chloe Hill May 20, 2019

The 2019 EGU General Assembly was a great success. Not only was it the largest in EGU history (with over 16,000 participants, 5,531 oral, 9,432 poster and 1,287 PICO presentations) but it also allowed scientists to connect geoscience and their research with global challenges and potential solutions. One of the highlights of this year’s General Assembly was the high-level session on Science, Politi ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Dust devil sighting in the Atacama Desert

Rita Nogherotto May 20, 2019

Dust devil in Atacama desert. Credit: Rita Nogherotto (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Dust devils are like miniature tornadoes, they form when a pocket of hot air near the surface moves fast upward and meets cooler air above it. As the air rapidly rises, the column of hot air is stretched vertically, thereby moving mass closer to the axis of rotation, which causes intensification of the spinning effect by conservation of angular momentum. In the Atacama Desert [in Chile] they are r ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: climate modelling the world of Game of Thrones

Olivia Trani May 17, 2019

With the help of some climate models, researchers have proposed a theory explaining the peculiar climate of the world of Game of Thrones. (Credit: Dan Lunt, University of Bristol)

Disclaimer: This article contains minor spoilers for Season 8 of “Game of Thrones.” A basic understanding of the world of Game of Thrones is assumed in this post. The Game of Thrones world of ice and fire is an unpredictable place both politically and environmentally. While the fate of the Iron Throne is yet to be confirmed, a humble steward has been working diligently to make some sense of the pl ...[Read More]