Highlights at a glance

08:30 – Transferable skills: what are they and do I have them? (SC4.11 Room -2.61/62); *Getting Started with Data Assimilation: Theory and Application (SC5.12 Room -2.85/86); Bridging the scales: The Arctic methane and permafrost challenge (US3: Room E1)
10:45 – Introduction to Information Theory (SC5.6 Room -2.61/62); Applications of cosmogenic nuclides to study Earth surface processes and landforms (SC5.9 Room -2.85/86); Untangling the geological records of mass extinction events and extreme environmental changes linked to volcanism (SSP1.2: orals Room K2, onsite posters Hall X); Promoting and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in the geosciences (EOS3.1/AS6/BG1/GM12/SSS1 orals, Room 1.15/16, onsite posters Hall X1); Artificial Intelligence in scientific publishing: blessing or bane? (GDB9: 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Room E1)
14:00 – If informing is not enough, how should scientists engage to accelerate the social transformation required by climate change and biodiversity collapse? (GDB6 Room E1)
16:15 – DataViz: Visualise your data effectively and avoid common pitfalls (SC6.9 Room -2.85/86); Manage your microscale data with QGIS (SC6.6 Room -2.61/62)

Closing message from the EGU President

The week of science conversations, networking, presentations and community activities at EGU24 is coming to an end. It has been a week with an unprecedented number of presentations and with critical cutting edge science discussions. The activity of participants at all career stages and representing all continents created a vibrant and open-minded atmosphere, where free and open exchange of ideas, and commitment to excellence created the success of EGU24, supported by enthusiastic and dedicated efforts of numerous volunteers, exhibitors and meeting organisers. I thank you all for your continued support of EGU and look forward to seeing you again next year at EGU25.

Irina Artemieva, EGU President

Award lecture

Alexander von Humboldt Medal Lecture by Subimal Ghosh (MAL1: 12:45–13:45 (CEST) Room E1

Short Courses

Transferable skills: what are they and do I have them? (SC4.11: 08:30–10:15 (CEST) Room -2.61/62)
Getting Started with Data Assimilation: Theory and Application (SC5.12: 08:30–10:15 (CEST) Room -2.85/86)
Introduction to Information Theory (SC5.6: 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Room -2.61/62)
Applications of cosmogenic nuclides to study Earth surface processes and landforms (SC5.9: 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Room -2.85/86)
Introduction to neural networks (SC5.7: 14:00–15:45 (CEST) Room -2.61/62)
DataViz: Visualise your data effectively and avoid common pitfalls (SC6.9: 14:00–15:45 (CEST) Room -2.85/86)
Manage your microscale data with QGIS (SC6.6: 16:15–18:00 (CEST) Room -2.61/62)

Collaborative Science Through Free and Open Source Software Tools and Frameworks in Earth Sciences

In recent decades, the use of geoinformation technology has become increasingly important in understanding the Earth’s environment. This session focuses on modern open-source software tools, including those built on top of commercial GIS solutions, developed to facilitate the analysis of mainly geospatial data in various branches of geosciences. Earth science research has become more collaborative with shared code and platforms, and this work is supported by Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and shared virtual research infrastructures utilising cloud and high-performance computing. Contributions will showcase practical solutions and applications based on FOSS, cloud-based architecture, and high-performance computing to support information sharing, scientific collaboration, and large-scale data analytics.

ESSI1.3: PICO | Mon, 15 Apr, 10:45-12:30 (CEST) PICO spot 4

If informing is not enough, how should scientists engage to accelerate the social transformation required by climate change and biodiversity collapse?

Many geoscientists produce and disseminate knowledge about climate change and contemporary environmental degradation to increasingly wider audiences. This knowledge is notably gathered in alarming reports by scientific institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and it indicates that rapid and radical transformations of our societies are simply vital. Still, ongoing efforts to trigger such transformations, whether by political, economic, or civil society stakeholders, often fall short of the urgent actions recommended. In this Great Debate we contend that the right question is not whether scientists should engage more into facing the crisis, but how they should do it. Which forms of engagement are suitable for science to be effective at the policy level whilst agreeing that communicating is simply not enough? Should scientists enter the political arena? Should they prioritize legitimacy or legality? This Great Debate will draw on all these ideas to discussing both the benefits and costs of scientific action in our era.

GDB6: 14:00–15:45 (CEST) Room E1

Promoting and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in the geosciences

Following the success of previous years, this session will explore reasons for the under-representation of different groups (gender identities, sexual orientations, racial and cultural backgrounds, abilities, religions, nationality or geography, socioeconomic status, ages, career stages, etc.) by welcoming debate among scientists, decision-makers and policy analysts in the geosciences. The session will focus on both obstacles that contribute to under-representation and on best practices and innovative ideas to remove those obstacles.

EOS3.1/AS6/BG1/GM12/SSS1: orals, 0:45–12:30 (CEST) Room 1.15/16, onsite posters, 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Hall X1

Untangling the geological records of mass extinction events and extreme environmental changes linked to volcanism

Causal relationship between mass extinctions, major volcanic eruptions, large bolide impacts and extreme climate and environmental changes in the Phanerozoic has been reliably demonstrated using different approaches. This session invites contributions presenting the latest advances about the end-Ordovician, Late and end-Devonian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, end-Cretaceous, and other paleoenvironmental crises, such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum and Oceanic Anoxic Events. The goal of the session is to bring together researchers from geological, geophysical, and biological disciplines to improve our knowledge of the cause-effect scenario of these major environmental changes.

SSP1.2: orals, 14:00–15:45 (CEST), 16:15–17:55 (CEST) Room K2, onsite posters, 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Hall X1

Artificial Intelligence in scientific publishing: blessing or bane?

Technological developments have always had an impact on the evolution of scientific publishing, transitioning from ink and paper to its current electronic format. In this context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its way to the process of publishing research results, raising concerns within the scientific community. This new technological revolution is developing at a fast pace, with possibly significant consequences for scientific publications. On the one hand, the benefits of generative AI include the improvement of readability of scientific papers by more structured and efficient writing, and refining language. On the other hand, AI-generated text may be inaccurate, incomplete and may carry biases possibly harmful to scholarly literature. Join the discussion in this Great Debate to discuss the ‘blessing and bane’ of AI usage in scientific publishing and how to make best use of its potential and fast developments within the scientific publishing community.

GDB9: 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Room E1

Your thoughts about this year’s General Assembly…

“There were many interesting posters and a big variety of research disciplines and I managed to learn many new things in this General Assembly.” – Takeshi Saito, Geological Survey of Japan (1st time attendee)

“I have met very nice people here. The networking was very good and had great interactions with my colleagues.” – Poulami Roy, GFZ-Potsdam

“I’ve been going to the geoscience information for teachers initiative an it’s been really interesting meeting teachers from all over Europe and do amazing hands-on workshops.” – Ashley Akingbade, The Geological Society of London.

“The most memorable thing for me is to meet people and see where everybody is going, the different communities and what the different divisions are doing. This gives you a perspective of what’s happening now in Geosciences!” – Marius Shlaak, Technical University of Munich (first time as an EGU mentor)

Bridging the scales: The Arctic methane and permafrost challenge

The Arctic is warming between 4-8 times faster than the global average, making permafrost soil organic carbon susceptible to degradation. The quantity and timeline of methane emissions from this carbon entering the atmosphere is uncertain. Yet, the permafrost environment is changing rapidly, permafrost thaw is leading to increasingly significant changes in landscape and biodiversity. To predict the impacts of permafrost thaw on the landscape and methane emissions, international collaboration is necessitated. To this end, ESA and NASA have established the Arctic Methane Permafrost Challenge, a transatlantic initiative bringing together circumpolar studies across scales. this Union Symposium is to further enhance the understanding of all aspects of change in the permafrost environment leading to methane emissions across all scales in the circumpolar Arctic by inviting leading figures in the field to discuss the current state of research.

US3: 08:30–10:15 (CEST) Room E1

What to do in Vienna this weekend

Have coffee, Vienna style: experience the true delights of Viennese coffee at Cafe Prükel. Strong and delicious, and even better with a slice of your favourite cake, find out more.
Immerse yourself in Austrian artwork: experience the work of Gustav Klimt, one of Austria’s most famous painters, find out more.
Explore the city by bike: one of the best ways to see Vienna is by bike and there’s no shortage of great tours around the city. Better yet, hire your own and take a trip along the Danube, find out more.

Environmental and Rock Magnetism

In the last decades, the use of environmental magnetism in geophysical and geological sciences has increased. Environmental magnetism provides indispensable information about sedimentary and tectonic processes, environmental redox conditions during sedimentation, diagenesis, and biological activity among others. The purpose of this session is to integrate diverse applications of environmental magnetism in the domain of geosciences.

EMRP3.4/BG2/BG6/SSP2: orals | Fri, 19 Apr, 16:15–17:50 (CEST) Room -2.20, onsite posters, 10:45–12:30 (CEST) Hall X2, virtual posters 14:00–15:45 (CEST) vHall X3

Molecular and Isotopic Tracers across Environmental Interfaces: The Carbon Cycle, Pyrogenic and Natural Organic Matter

Understanding the partitioning of carbon in different reservoirs on Earth, and the sensitivity of these reservoirs to climatic and anthropogenic factors, remains a key challenge in predicting future responses to global warming. A lot of this uncertainty stems from the inherent complexity of the carbon cycle, where physical, chemical, and biological processes interact on different temporal and spatial scales. Thus, a wide variety of tracers are needed to unravel individual processes and assess their sensitivity to climatic and anthropogenic influences. In this session, we aim to bring together the latest insights into the partitioning and size of all reservoirs of the global carbon cycle and the processes governing fluxes of carbon between these reservoirs.

BG1.10/SSS5: orals, 08:30–12:30 (CEST), 14:00–15:45 (CEST) Room 1.14, onsite posters, 16:15–18:00 (CEST) Hall X1, virtual posters 14:00–15:45 (CEST) vHall X1