Monthly news from EGU: Input from members, artists in residence, wine grapes (September 2019)
- EGU news
- 23 September 2019
The September 2019 edition of the EGU email newsletter, the monthly information service for Union members, is now available.
EGU
News
View all |
New study: Fracking prompts global spike in atmospheric methane
- Press release
- 14 August 2019
As methane concentrations increase in the Earth’s atmosphere, chemical fingerprints point to a probable source: shale oil and gas, according to new Cornell University research published today in Biogeosciences, a journal of the European Geosciences Union.
EGU awarded a Commemorative Centennial Plaque by IUGG
- EGU news
- 29 July 2019
Today, the EGU President received, on behalf of the EGU, a Centennial Commemorative Plaque awarded by the IUGG to celebrate international scientific cooperation in the geosciences.
Higher education teaching of geoscience: how can the EGU help?
- EGU news
- 8 July 2019
EGU’s Committee on Education aims to provide support for higher education, from organising workshops to providing networking opportunities for all those teaching geoscience in higher education. We invite PhD students, postgraduates, research fellows, academic staff and any others teaching geoscience in higher education to fill in a short survey to help us understand the role EGU could play in further supporting higher education.
Climate impact of clouds made from airplane contrails may triple by 2050
- Press release
- 27 June 2019
In the right conditions, airplane contrails can linger in the sky as contrail cirrus – ice clouds that can trap heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Their climate impact has been largely neglected in global schemes to offset aviation emissions, even though contrail cirrus have contributed more to warming the atmosphere than all CO2 emitted by aircraft since the start of aviation. A new study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics has found that, due to air traffic activity, the climate impact of contrail cirrus will be even more significant in the future, tripling by 2050.
Highlight articles
View all |
Hybrid-Vlasov modelling of nightside auroral proton precipitation during southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions
- Annales Geophysicae
- DOI 10.5194/angeo-37-791-2019
- 10 September 2019
When the terrestrial magnetic field is disturbed, particles from the near-Earth space can precipitate into the upper atmosphere. This work presents, for the first time, numerical simulations of proton precipitation in the energy range associated with the production of aurora (∼1–30 keV) using a global kinetic model of the near-Earth space: Vlasiator. We find that nightside proton precipitation can be regulated by the transition region between stretched and dipolar geomagnetic field lines.
How can geologic decision-making under uncertainty be improved?
- Solid Earth
- DOI 10.5194/se-10-1469-2019
- 3 September 2019
In this paper, we outline the key insights from decision-making research about how, when faced with uncertainty, humans constrain decisions through the use of heuristics (rules of thumb), making them vulnerable to systematic and suboptimal decision biases. We also review existing strategies to debias decision-making that have applicability in the geosciences, giving special attention to strategies that make use of information technology and artificial intelligence.
Improved methodologies for Earth system modelling of atmospheric soluble iron and observation comparisons using the Mechanism of Intermediate complexity for Modelling Iron (MIMI v1.0)
- Geoscientific Model Development
- DOI 10.5194/gmd-12-3835-2019
- 2 September 2019
MIMI v1.0 was designed for use within Earth system models to simulate the 3-D emission, atmospheric processing, and deposition of iron and its soluble fraction. Understanding the iron cycle is important due to its role as an essential micronutrient for ocean phytoplankton; its supply limits primary productivity in many of the world’s oceans. Human activity has perturbed the iron cycle, and MIMI is capable of diagnosing many of these impacts; hence, it is important for future climate studies.
CO2 effects on diatoms: a synthesis of more than a decade of ocean acidification experiments with natural communities
- Ocean Science
- DOI 10.5194/os-15-1159-2019
- 28 August 2019
Diatoms are a group of phytoplankton species responsible for ~ 25% of primary production on Earth. Ocean acidification (OA) could influence diatoms but the key question is if they become more or less important within marine food webs. We synthesize OA experiments with natural communities and found that diatoms are more likely to be positively than negatively affected by high CO2 and larger species may profit in particular. This has important implications for ecosystem services diatoms provide.
Latest posts from EGU blogs
Conversations on a century of geoscience in Europe: Part 2
- GeoLog – EGU official blog
- posted 2 days ago
When you think about the last century of geoscience, what comes to mind? Perhaps Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift? Or Inge Lehmann’s discovery of Earth’s solid inner core? Over the last 100 years, geoscientists have made incredible contributions to our understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and beyond. The science community has explored uncharted territory, challenged previously held conceptions, provided vital information to policymakers, worked to address societal challenges, and put forth paths for sustainability. Through the years, …
Cryo-Comm – Degrading Terrains
- Cryospheric Sciences
- posted 2 days ago
Beneath dusted peaks of mountain dew A dense and rigid backcloth skulks, Worn down and compacted with Fractured decades of aged powder; Trodden into rocky outcrops To lie barrenly against This frozen, ancient soil. Subtle shifts of these forgotten rocks Ripple across subterranean sediments, Dislodging once-stable foundations That now cascade like an ocean; Echoing across the fragile firmament To loudly denounce their buried past. Beneath the jutting shadows Of glaring, metallic stations We bore artificial holes, Treading carefully As we …
Features from the field: Ripple Marks
- Tectonics and Structural Geology
- posted 2 days ago
Earlier this year, Ian Kane, geologist at the University of Manchester, captured the iconic snapshot shown above. The picture reveals ripples, developed due to waves and currents in the sand of White Strand (near Killard, county Clare, Ireland) right next to Carboniferous sandstone that contains ‘petrified’ ripple marks! The image is powerful, because it shows the basic principle of geological actualism, which can be summarized in the famous quote by Charles Lyell: ‘the present is the key to past, the …