When hydrologists and people of the general public use simple water-related words, are they actually saying the same thing? While many don’t consider words like flood, river and groundwater to be very technical terms, also known as jargon, water scientists and the general public can actually have pretty different definitions. This is what a team of researchers have discovered in recent study, and ...[Read More]
Sentinel-2B imaged the highest mountains of western Europe, just the moment an airplane was about to fly over the granite peaks of Grandes Jorasses and cross the border from France to Italy. The passengers on the right side of the plane must have enjoyed a spectacular view on Mont Blanc, just nine kilometers away to the south-west, and Mer de Glace, the longest glacier in France flowing down from ...[Read More]
Northern lights in Tromsø, displaying the collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun which penetrate the earth’s magnetic shield and strike atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. Collisions excite the atoms causing electrons to move to higher-energy orbits, further away from the nucleus. When electrons move back to lower-energy orbits, they release particles of light call ...[Read More]
Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Serena Ceola, a hydrologist and assistant professor at the University of Bologna, Italy, who studies interactions between humans and river systems. At the upcoming General Assembly she will be recognised for her research contributions as the recipient of the 2019 Hydrological Sciences D ...[Read More]
The winter season is a good time to take advantage of cold weather activities, whether that’s hitting the ski slopes or warming up by a fire, but for Renato R. Colucci, it’s also one of the best time’s to study the Earth’s underground cryosphere. Colucci, who took this featured photograph, is a researcher at Italian Institute for Marine Sciences (ISMAR) of the National Research Council (CNR) and i ...[Read More]
This magnificent pattern is the result of hundreds and hundreds of years of evolution. In this structured minerotrophic peatland in Northern Quebec (Canada), which can also be called a string fen or aapa mire, the green peat ridges (or strings) alternate with water-filled hollows (or flarks). Often flarks are replaced by ponds, which vary in number and size. This pattern of strings and flarks (or ...[Read More]
Science and innovation are a central priority for the European Union with the current research framework, Horizon 2020, allocating almost €80 billion to research and innovation over seven years, until 2021. It appears that policymakers are currently happy with this investment as they are looking to increase research and innovation spending to at least €100 billion in the next research funding fram ...[Read More]
I’ve taken many photos on fieldwork, everywhere from Malaysia to Antarctica but this particular photo was taken in my ‘home’ lab at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, UK. Atmospheric scientists collect air samples canisters such as these from around the world: from high altitude research aircraft (such as the Geophysica), long-term measurement time series (such as Ca ...[Read More]
Over the last few decades, Antarctic ice shelves have been disintegrating at a rapid rate, likely due to warming atmospheric and ocean temperatures, according to scientists. New research reveals that one type of threat to ice shelf stability might be more widespread that previously thought. A study recently published in EGU’s open access journal The Cryosphere identified several regions in Antarct ...[Read More]
Pictured here is a snapshot of an environment in transition. Today’s featured photo was taken at the foot of Monte Fitz Roy, a jagged Patagonia mountain located in Los Glaciares National Park on the border between Argentina and Chile. The Patagonia region in South America is the second biggest source of glaciers in the southern hemisphere, behind Antarctica, but the region is losing ice at a rapid ...[Read More]