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]
Imaggeo on Mondays: A marvellous moving image
Every year, in association with our annual General Assembly, we run a photo contest to feature and celebrate fantastic geoscience images. Last year we introduced a moving image component to the competition, giving photographers the chance to submit short clips of great geoscience footage. Here’s this year’s highly commended entry by Matthias Buschmann… Svalbard’s stunning scenery (Credit: Matthias ...[Read More]
Announcing the winners of the EGU Photo Contest 2014!
The selection committee received over 200 photos for this year’s EGU Photo Contest, covering fields across the geosciences. Participants have been voting for their favourites throughout the week and there are three clear winners. Congratulations to Trent Marwick, Velio Coviello and John Clemens – 2014’s fantastic photographers! Imaggeo is the EGU’s open access geosciences image repository. Photos ...[Read More]
Communicate Your Science Competition Winner Announced!
Congratulations to Louise Crochemore, the winner of the first ever Communicate Your Science Video Competition. Louise is a PhD student at the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture France, and has been investigating how to manage water resources effectively. Here’s her video, Hydrological Drought Predictions for Reservoir Management: What’ ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: What can you learn from a human hair?
Jim Ehleringer is Director of the Stable Isotope Ratio Facility at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in the US. In the past few years he has been developing a method for deducing people’s diets and travel history from a sample of their hair. Here, he talks to the EGU press office about his research. Thanks for agreeing to chat, Jim. Can you tell me a bit about how your project started? This ...[Read More]
At the Assembly: Friday highlights
The conference is coming to a close and there’s still an abundance of great sessions to attend! Here’s our guide to getting the most out of the conference on its final day. Boost this information with features from EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly – pick up a paper copy at the ACV entrance or download it here. Be sure to attend today’s Alexander von Humboldt Medal Lecture by ...[Read More]
It’s not my fault
A line on a map is important. In the Beverly Hills region of Los Angeles a series of mapped fault lines are now the cause of a major controversy. Communities have been alarmed, money has been lost and legal proceedings are ongoing. It started in 1992. James Dolan and Kerry Sieh, two earthquake geologists at the California Institute of Technology, published a map in a field trip guidebook about the ...[Read More]
Meltwater ponds halt new sea ice growth
Each September, battered by the relentless sun-filled days of summer, the smooth expanse of the Arctic Ocean reaches the climax of its annual transformation. Replacing the endless blanket of winter ice, a vast jigsaw puzzle stretches across the pole, a mosaic of soggy snow islands floating amid turquoise ponds of meltwater and inlets of dark blue sea. These meltwater ponds have been shown to drama ...[Read More]
Explore the Exhibition at EGU 2014!
Today is the last full day to visit the Exhibition at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly! Exhibition booths for companies, publishers, scientific societies and many more are scattered throughout the Blue (basement), Yellow (ground floor), and Green (first floor) Levels of the Austria Center Vienna. See the General Assembly website for a full list of who’s attending and where to find t ...[Read More]