forest

GeoPolicy: How science supported the EU’s new land use and forestry regulation

Chloe Hill July 3, 2018

Beech forest on slope subject to rock fall. Credit: Ettore Bianchi (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

What is the land use and forestry regulation? In October 2014, the EU agreed that all sectors, including land and forestry, should contribute to the EU’s 2030 climate & energy framework target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Almost 4 years later, in May 2018, the EU Commission’s proposal for the 2021-2030 land use and forestry regulatio ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Iceland’s original birch forest

Olivia Trani April 30, 2018

Icelandic original birch forest. Credit: Marco Cavalli (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Iceland is a country of dramatically rugged landscapes. The region is home to sweeping valleys and mountain ranges, dotted with lava fields, large glaciers, hot springs and impressive waterfalls. The territory is also notoriously treeless. As of 2016, forests only made up 1.9 percent of Iceland, according to the Icelandic Forest Service. However, about a thousand years ago the country’s landscape ...[Read More]

Record-setting forest fires in 2017 – what is to blame?

Robert Emberson September 28, 2017

Styggkärret reserve burning fire . Credit: Ylvers , distributed via Pixabay .

Forest fires have once again seized the public consciousness in both Europe and North America. Extreme drought and temperatures contributed to a tinderbox in many forests, and have led to deadly fires across Europe and record-breaking, highly disruptive fires in the USA and Canada, from where I’m currently writing. A simple way to understand fire is by thinking about the fire triangle – the three ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The invaluable role of soil dwellers

Laura Roberts-Artal October 3, 2016

Find a new way . Credit: Alice Dohnalkova (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

That soils are vital to secure our future supplies of water, food, as well as aiding adaptation to climate change and sustaining the planet’s biosphere is a subject we’ve featured on the blog as recently as the summer. That’s because never have humans been more out of touch with the vital importance of this natural resource. Inhabiting among soil particles thrives an even less familiar, but equall ...[Read More]