Press conferences

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Tuesday, 10 April 2018

• Eavesdropping on the ocean and cities (PC1, 10:00–11:00 CEST)
• Earth from Space: ESA’s latest satellite data (PC2, 11:30 CEST)
• Contaminated waters: pollutants in rivers and groundwater (PC3, 13:00 CEST)

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

• From droughts to war: forests under pressure (PC4, 10:30 CEST)
• Shape of things to come? The 2017 wildfire season (PC5, 12:15 CEST)
• Hazards in the wake of climate change (PC6, 14:00 CEST)
• Latest results from NASA’s Juno mission at Jupiter (PC7, 15:00 CEST)

Thursday, 12 April 2018

• What’s at risk from coastal hazards? (PC8, 11:30 CEST)

Tuesday, 10 April 2018, 10:00–11:00 CEST (Stream)

In this press conference, we look at results from unconventional research. We will learn how we can use seismology to eavesdrop on a city – or, more specifically, to monitor road traffic and cultural activities. In another presentation, we will find out how super-silent ocean gliders are helping researchers build an underwater soundscape, that can be used to measure sea-surface wind speed, monitor storms, and to eavesdrop on marine life.

Participants:

• Jordi Diaz
  Researcher, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera of the Spanish Scientific Research Council, Barcelona, Spain
• Pierre Cauchy
  PhD Student, Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

Related scientific sessions:

SM4.03, OS4.4/BG3.8

Tuesday, 10 April 2018, 11:30 CEST (Stream)

ESA’s series of Earth Explorers satellites missions use a wide range of space technologies to further our scientific understanding of many different aspects of how Earth works and how it is changing. The Swarm Earth Explorer mission, for example, is delivering new information about Earth’s protective magnetic field. Its data are being used to measure and untangle the different magnetic signals from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere, and to learn more about the field protects us from harmful charged particles in solar wind. The newest findings from Swarm give the most detailed view of Earth’s magnetic field ever produced. Swarm data are allowing scientists to gain greater insight into dynamics occurring deep inside the planet and why our magnetic field is weakening as well as new insight into upper-atmosphere processes where the magnetic field interacts with charged particles in solar wind. The mission has even sensed the weak magnetic field of our oceans.

Participants:

• Josef Aschbacher
  Director of Earth Observation Programmes at ESA
• Rune Floberghagen
  ESA Swarm Mission Manager
• Nils Olsen
  Professor, DTU Space – National Space Institute, Denmark
• Eelco Doornbos
  Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Related scientific sessions:

EMRP2.2/ST3.10

Tuesday, 10 April 2018, 13:00 CEST (Stream)

Over 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water around the world. Aside from impacting human health, water pollution can also kill plants and animals, disrupt the food chain, and affect human activities such as agriculture and industry. In this press conference we will hear the preliminary results of a study of 10,000 river (sub)basins to find out how much sewage systems have contributed to water pollution around the world. We will also find out where the hotspots for river pollution are and how many rivers around the world might be polluted by sewage by 2050. Another presentation will focus on the fate of pharmaceuticals in freshwaters, looking to answer questions such as: how are the world’s rivers affected by these human and veterinary contaminants? And how much will this environmental threat increase in the future? A final presentation will focus on the Amazon basin and on how natural contamination of groundwater with arsenic and other trace elements is becoming an emerging health concern in this region.

Participants:

• Francesco Bregoli
  Postdoc Researcher, Department of Water Science and Engineering, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands
• Maryna Strokal
  Postdoc Researcher, Water Systems and Global Change group, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands
• Caroline de Meyer
  Researcher, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland

Related scientific sessions:

HS2.3.6, HS5.5, NH8.1/HS5.13/SSS13.60

Wednesday, 11 April 2018, 10:30 CEST (Stream)

Global climate change and local droughts in the Amazon over the past few years are taking a toll on the world’s largest tropical rainforest. A presentation at this press conference will focus on the increase in tree mortality in the Amazon and what that might mean for the forest’s potential to act as a carbon sink in the future. A second presentation will provide a more global overview of tree mortality. It will focus on using lidar surveys to produce 3D maps of changing canopy in tropical, temperate and boreal forests. A final presentation will look into the past, and a different type of pressure on forests: war. The talk will show how one military encounter in the Second World War continues to leave a visible legacy in the northern forests of Norway more than seventy years later.

Participants:

• David Galbraith
  Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
• Douglas Morton
  Earth System Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States
• Claudia Hartl
  Research Associate, Department of Geography, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

Related scientific sessions:

BG2.32/SSS13.8, BG4.12/GI2.26, BG2.23, CL1.07

Wednesday, 11 April 2018, 12:15 CEST (Stream)

In 2017, record wildfires burnt across the Earth’s continents. In British Columbia Canada, wildfires burnt a record area and, on 12 August, erupted as a cluster of fire-generated thunderstorms that had a volcano-like impact on the stratospheric aerosol layer. In Greenland, highly unusual open fires burnt on peat lands left vulnerable by permafrost thawing. Wildfires in Portugal were the deadliest and most extensive ever recorded, resulting in more than 100 fatalities and a burnt area over four times larger than the average of the previous 10 years. California had the most destructive and costly wildfire season on record. In this press conference, we will hear about research on these destructive wildfires, including how powerful the British Columbia smoke and dust plumes were and what the fires on and near Greenland mean for ice melting in the region. The press conference will also focus on how the season can be a harbinger of future changes, and how countries can better adapt to changing wildfire patterns.

Participants:

• David Peterson
  Researcher, U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, United States
• Andreas Stohl
  Senior Scientist, NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research (ATMOS), Kjeller, Norway
• António Ferreira
  Researcher, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra College of Agriculture, Coimbra, Portugal
• Etienne Tourigny
  Researcher, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Earth Sciences, Spain

Related scientific sessions:

AS3.4/BG4.10/NH7.4, SSS8.3, CL3.04/NP5.6, BG4.2

Wednesday, 11 April 2018, 14:00 CEST (Stream)

Could more volcanic eruptions happen in a warmer world? At this press conference we will hear about how a chain of events, made more likely due to climate change, has the potential to trigger volcanic eruptions. In another presentation, we will find out about another chain of events that starts with a changing climate and ends with the increased fragility of Europe’s road and rail infrastructure, a crucial part of Europe’s economy. Another critical contributor to Europe’s prosperity is its agriculture. At this press conference we will also hear results from a new study that determines the duration and area of future droughts all across the continent at various levels of warming. Another new study, also presented at this press conference, focuses on winter storms in the Euro-Atlantic area and how they will affect Europe, especially the British Isles and Northern Scandinavia, in a warmer world.

Participants:

• Gioachino Roberti
  PhD Student, Université Clermont Auvergne, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Clermont Ferrand, France -and- Simon Fraser University, Earth Sciences, Burnaby, Canada
• Matthias Schlögl
  Researcher, Transportation Infrastructure Technologies, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Vienna, Austria
• Luis Samaniego
  Deputy Head of the Computational Hydrosystems Department, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
• Monika J. Barcikowska
  Researcher, Environmental Defense Fund, New York City, United States

Related scientific sessions:

GMPV4.8/CL1.34, NH9.4, HS2.1.1, HS7.5

Wednesday, 11 April 2018, 15:00 CEST (Stream)

NASA’s Juno mission began orbiting Jupiter on July 4 of 2016. By the date of the EGU briefing, Juno will have performed 11 science passes of the solar system’s biggest planetary body. This media briefing will include Juno’s latest findings on Jupiter’s poles, magnetic field, interior and deep atmosphere. Also shared during the briefing will be some of the latest images of Jupiter, collected during the solar-powered spacecraft’s April 1, flyby of the gas giant.

Participants:

• Scott Bolton
  Juno Principal Investigator, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, United States
• Alberto Adriani
  Juno Co-Investigator, Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology, Rome, Italy
• Tristan Guillot
  Juno Co-Investigator from the Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
• Jack Connerney
  Juno Deputy Principal Investigator and lead for the mission's magnetic field investigation, Space Research Corporation of Annapolis, Maryland, United States
• Steve Levin
  Juno Project Scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, United States

Related scientific sessions:

PS3.2

Thursday, 12 April 2018, 11:30 CEST (Stream)

From tsunamis to floods and storm surges, coastal areas are particularly prone to natural disasters. This press conference looks at the effects from hazards we can expect to impact the world’s coastlines. One presentation will focus on the tsunami risk for the world’s most prominent beaches and the impact tsunamis can have on beach-related tourism. Another presentation will look into how climate change and socioeconomic factors will affect the number of people exposed to coastal flooding in the future. A final presentation will focus on the Mediterranean region and on how coastal hazards associated with sea-level rise are putting UNESCO World Heritage sites at risk.

Participants:

• Andreas Schaefer
  PhD Student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Geophysical Institute, Karlsruhe, Germany
• Michalis Vousdoukas
  Researcher, Joint European Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
• Marco Anzidei
  Researcher, INGV – National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Rome, Italy

Related scientific sessions:

NH9.10/GMPV6.10/HS11.42/SM3.16/SSS13.62, NH5.4/AS4.29/CL3.10/HS11.32/OS2.11, GI3.3/EMRP4.10/NH9.23/PS4.10