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IMG_5266(1).JPG (Credit: Caitrin Pilkington, EGU23 Press Conferences)

Media at the EGU General Assembly
Vienna, Austria | 7–12 April 2019 Press conferences

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Press conferences

You are viewing the EGU General Assembly 2019 Press Centre page. Click here to see information about media services and activities (e.g. press conferences) at the most recent General Assembly.

List of press conferences

Monday, 08 April 2019
Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Wednesday, 10 April 2019
Tuesday, 09 April 2019

PC1 – Health risks: air pollution, emerging viruses, malaria mosquitoes

Monday, 08 April 2019, 14:00 CEST (Stream)

Climate change and increasing air and water pollution bring new health risks to human populations. In this press conference, journalists will hear about new findings on the impacts of air pollution on human health and premature mortality for different age ranges and different diseases in Europe. Another team will present new results on how the future distribution of Anopheles mosquitoes may increase malaria risk in some European countries. In another presentation, journalists will hear about new research in slums in sub Saharan Africa that found emerging virus communities in groundwater.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

AS3.15, HS8.1.6, ITS4.2/CL4.21/HS11.21/OS2.11

PC2 – Beyond EPICA: The quest for a 1.5 million year ice core

Tuesday, 09 April 2019, 09:00 CEST (Stream)

An ideal location has been found for drilling an ice core which goes as far back in Earth’s history as possible. Internationally leading ice and climate scientists of 14 institutions from ten European countries have been searching for this spot in Antarctica in the project Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice funded by the European Commission. They are going to report on their Antarctic field campaigns that led to the choice of the drill site and give an outlook for the next step to recover an ice core. This ‘oldest ice’ would allow to improve our understanding of past processes in the climate system over the last 1.5 million years and improve prognoses for the future.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

CL1.09/CR1.10/NP4.7

PC3 – Latest research on plastic pollution

Tuesday, 09 April 2019, 10:30 CEST (Stream)

Plastic is everywhere. This durable and widely used material is a persistent pollutant that contaminates rivers, can damage marine life and enter the food chain. In this press conference, researchers will present the first evidence of the occurrence of microplastic in a terrestrial glacier environment and the first global overview of microplastic distributions in rivers, lakes and estuaries. Moving from the land to the sea, we will hear about the latest global simulations of dispersion and accumulation of plastic in the oceans, including results of a 3D model of plastic distribution in the ocean waters. We will also hear about how marine plastic debris can be used to improve our understanding of ocean currents.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

ITS5.2/OS4.13/EOS10.2/BG3.18/GM6.6/HS11.63, SCS2/HS1.2.13/OS4.36, CR7.2/BG1.49/HS2.3.7

PC4 – Monitoring the Earth from space: new findings

Tuesday, 09 April 2019, 13:00 CEST (Stream)

Technology advances now allow us to see the Earth from space in unprecedented detail and scientists are increasingly using satellite data to help us learn about our planet. At a presentation in this press conference, journalists will hear preliminary findings from work that used satellite data from the Landsat archive to reconstruct 35 years of forest mortality for all of continental Europe. A team from Italy will report on new techniques to monitor ground deformation of active volcanoes from space, using Copernicus Sentinel-1 data, while a UK team will report on their method to detect marine litter using data from the Sentinel-2 satellite. In a final presentation, we will hear the first results from the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM), a suite of instruments on the International Space Station observing flashes of gamma-rays and lightning into the stratosphere powered by thunderstorms.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

BG2.3, NH6.1/GI3.20/HS11.38, NH1.2/AS1.29, ITS5.2/OS4.13/EOS10.2/BG3.18/GM6.6/HS11.63

PC5 – The 2018 heatwave and new research on European climate

Tuesday, 09 April 2019, 14:00 CEST (Stream)

The 2018 heatwave in North America, Europe and Asia saw extreme temperatures that caused loss of life, severe wildfires, and damage to infrastructures. A presentation in this press conference will look into the role human-induced climate change played in causing this record-breaking heatwave. Zooming in on Europe, another presentation will outline the key results from the European State of the Climate 2018 report. Following this, scientists will reveal striking new findings on the future evolution of Alpine glaciers and present new research on past and future snow conditions in Europe. Changing focus and looking into the European past, a final presentation will show what research into past climate conditions and construction activity can tell us about disease, famine and war in Europe from 1250 to 1699.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

CR1.1/CL3.07, CL4.23, CL1.38/BG2.41, OS4.11, CL5.01

PC6 – Marks of the Anthropocene: past, present and future

Wednesday, 10 April 2019, 09:00 CEST (Stream)

Many scientists argue we are living in the Anthropocene, a geological epoch shaped by human actions. In this press conference, journalists will hear about marks human activities have left, and continue to leave, on our planet. In one presentation, reporters will find out about a new 3D model of anthropogenic sediments under the city of Vienna, dating back up to more than 2,000 years ago. In another presentation, researchers will show evidence of elevated levels of radionuclides (fallout from Chernobyl and nuclear weapons testing) in glaciers across the globe. Another team will show how pesticides sprayed in crops are leaving residues in honey bees, pollen and beeswax. Finally, journalists will hear about how climate change and the urban heat island effect may leave the urban poor more exposed to deadly heat in major cities worldwide.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

ITS5.1/SSP2.1/CL3.01/GM6.7/SSS13.32, CR7.2/BG1.49/HS2.3.7, SSS8.5/BG2.67/HS8.3.15, NH1.9/AS4.31

PC7 – ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter first results

Wednesday, 10 April 2019, 11:00 CEST (Stream)

The joint ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, TGO, began its main science mission at Mars at the end of April 2018. The instrument teams will report on their first few months of data analysis.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

PS1.3

PC8 – New hazards research: Anak Krakatau, glacial lakes and giant quakes

Tuesday, 09 April 2019, 15:00 CEST (Stream)

On 22 December 2018, a deadly tsunami struck Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, after activity at Anak Krakatau caused a piece of the western flank of the volcano to collapse to the sea. In this press conference, journalists will hear about new findings on this devastating eruption tsunami. In another presentation, reporters will learn about new research into giant earthquakes, a hazard able to affect large areas. They will find out about the largest quakes to have occurred on our planet, what caused them, and how frequent they may be. Finally, reporters will hear about an often poorly understood hazard in a presentation that will provide the first assessment of glacial lake outburst flood risk across the entire Tibetan Plateau and will identify glacial lakes that pose more of a threat to human settlements.

Participants:

Related scientific sessions:

NH2.1/GMPV5.18, NH4.2/SM3.4, ITS4.8/AS4.46/BG1.41/CL3.13/CR1.12/GM5.6