Policy-relevant papers

This page features policy-relevant papers: articles of particular interest published in EGU's open access journals.

Search

---

Categories

---

All Air Quality Big Data & Infrastructure Biodiversity Carbon Capture & Storage Climate Change & its Impacts Earth Observation & Monitoring Energy & Minerals Resources Environment Fundamental / Blue-Sky Research Geoengineering Global Research Programmes Human Health Natural Hazards Ocean Sciences Polar Research Soil Science Space Science & Exploration Waste Water Resources & Quality

Journals

---

All Annales Geophysicae (ANGEO) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP) Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT) Biogeosciences (BG) Climate of the Past (CP) Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurf) Earth System Dynamics (ESD) Geochronology (GChron) Geoscience Communication (GC) Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems (GI) Geoscientific Model Development (GMD) Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS) Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (NPG) Ocean Science (OS) SOIL Solid Earth (SE) The Cryosphere (TC) Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD)

Published

---

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

Searching ... 335 items found

10 20 50

---

A multi-disciplinary analysis of the exceptional flood event of July 2021 in central Europe – Part 1: Event description and analysis

• Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• DOI 10.5194/nhess-23-525-2023
• 6 February 2023

The flood event in July 2021 was one of the most severe disasters in Europe in the last half century. The objective of this two-part study is a multi-disciplinary assessment that examines the complex process interactions in different compartments, from meteorology to hydrological conditions to hydro-morphological processes to impacts on assets and environment. In addition, we address the question of what measures are possible to generate added value to early response management.

Read more

---

Reconstructions and predictions of the global carbon budget with an emission-driven Earth system model

• Earth System Dynamics
• DOI 10.5194/esd-14-101-2023
• 1 February 2023

For the first time, our decadal prediction system based on Max Planck Institute Earth System Model enables prognostic atmospheric CO2 with an interactive carbon cycle. The evolution of CO2 fluxes and atmospheric CO2 growth is reconstructed well by assimilating data products; retrospective predictions show high confidence in predicting changes in the next year. The Earth system predictions provide valuable inputs for understanding the global carbon cycle and informing climate-relevant policy.

Read more

---

Permafrost degradation and nitrogen cycling in Arctic rivers: insights from stable nitrogen isotope studies

• Biogeosciences
• DOI 10.5194/bg-20-365-2023
• 24 January 2023

Climate change is causing extensive permafrost degradation and nutrient releases into rivers with great ecological impacts on the Arctic Ocean. We focused on nitrogen release from this degradation and associated cycling using nitrogen isotopes, an understudied area. Nitrogen inputs from permafrost degradation and seasonal river nitrogen trends were identified using isotopes, helping to predict climate change impacts.

Read more

---

Droughts can reduce the nitrogen retention capacity of catchments

• Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
• DOI 10.5194/hess-27-303-2023
• 13 January 2023

The increasing frequency of severe and prolonged droughts threatens our freshwater resources. While we understand drought impacts on water quantity, its effects on water quality remain largely unknown. Here, we studied the impact of the unprecedented 2018–2019 drought in Central Europe on nitrate export in a heterogeneous mesoscale catchment in Germany. We show that severe drought can reduce a catchment’s capacity to retain nitrogen, intensifying the internal pollution and export of nitrate.

Read more

---

A data-driven model for Fennoscandian wildfire danger

• Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• DOI 10.5194/nhess-23-65-2023
• 12 January 2023

In this study, we developed a machine learning model to identify dominant controls of wildfire in Fennoscandia and produce monthly fire danger probability maps. The dominant control was shallow-soil water anomaly, followed by air temperature and deep soil water. The model proved skilful with a similar performance as the existing Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI). We highlight the benefit of using data-driven models jointly with other fire models to improve fire monitoring and prediction.

Read more

---

Soil and crop management practices and the water regulation functions of soils: a qualitative synthesis of meta-analyses relevant to European agriculture

• SOIL
• DOI 10.5194/soil-9-1-2023
• 4 January 2023

European agriculture is vulnerable to weather extremes. Nevertheless, by choosing well how to manage their land, farmers can protect themselves against drought and peak rains. More than a thousand observations across Europe show that it is important to keep the soil covered with living plants, even in winter. A focus on a general reduction of traffic on agricultural land is more important than reducing tillage. Organic material needs to remain or be added on the field as much as possible.

Read more

---

Transforming living labs into lighthouses: a promising policy to achieve land-related sustainable development

• SOIL
• DOI 10.5194/soil-8-751-2022
• 14 December 2022

In the new Soil Deal for Europe, land users, mostly farmers, and scientists are required to work jointly in living labs to develop sustainable land use systems. We propose that threshold values for different ecosystem services in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Green Deal have to be met to define lighthouses that demonstrate successful sustainable land use systems, functioning as inspiring examples. A case study illustrates the important role of soils.

Read more

---

Multi-scenario urban flood risk assessment by integrating future land use change models and hydrodynamic models

• Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• DOI 10.5194/nhess-22-3815-2022
• 28 November 2022

Flooding by extreme weather events and human activities can lead to catastrophic impacts in coastal areas. The research illustrates the importance of assessing the performance of different future urban development scenarios in response to climate change, and the simulation study of urban risks will prove to decision makers that incorporating disaster prevention measures into urban development plans will help reduce disaster losses and improve the ability of urban systems to respond to floods.

Read more

---

A climate-change attribution retrospective of some impactful weather extremes of 2021

• Weather and Climate Dynamics
• DOI 10.5194/wcd-3-1311-2022
• 17 November 2022

We analyze the atmospheric circulation leading to impactful extreme events for the calendar year 2021 such as the Storm Filomena, Westphalia floods, Hurricane Ida and Medicane Apollo. For some of the events, we find that climate change has contributed to their occurrence or enhanced their intensity; for other events, we find that they are unprecedented. Our approach underscores the importance of considering changes in the atmospheric circulation when performing attribution studies.

Read more

---

COVID-19 lockdown emission reductions have the potential to explain over half of the coincident increase in global atmospheric methane

• Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• DOI 10.5194/acp-22-14243-2022
• 8 November 2022

Atmospheric methane’s growth rate rose by 50 % in 2020 relative to 2019. Lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions tend to increase methane’s atmospheric residence time; lower carbon monoxide (CO) and non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emissions decrease its lifetime. Combining model sensitivities with emission changes, we find that COVID-19 lockdown emission reductions can explain over half the observed increases in methane in 2020.

Read more

---