European Geosciences Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The European Geosciences Union (or EGU) is an interdisciplinary learned non-profit association open to individuals who are professionally engaged in or associated with geosciences, planetary and space sciences, and related studies.
The objectives of the EGU are the promotion of
- the sciences of the Earth and its environment and of planetary and space sciences, and
- cooperation between scientists.
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[edit] History
The EGU was established by the merger of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) and the European Union of Geosciences (EUG) on 7 September 2002.
[edit] Publications
The EGU publishes several peer-reviewed research journals and book series, including Advances in Geosciences, Annales Geophysicae, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Biogeosciences, Climate of the Past, eEarth, Geoscientific Model Development, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, Ocean Science, The Cryosphere, and the Stephan Mueller Special Publication Series. The EGU has pioneered the use of online, open-access journals.
[edit] Position Statements
The EGU also issues position statements on a variety on scientific topics.[1]
In 2005, the Divisions of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the EGU issued a position statement in support of the joint science academies’ statement on global response to climate change. The statement refers to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as "the main representative of the global scientific community", and asserts that the IPCC “represents the state-of-the-art of climate science supported by the major science academies around the world and by the vast majority of science researchers and investigators as documented by the peer-reviewed scientific literature.”[2]
In 2008, the EGU issued a position statement on ocean acidification which states, "Ocean acidification is already occurring today and will continue to intensify, closely tracking atmospheric CO2 increase. Given the potential threat to marine ecosystems and its ensuing impact on human society and economy, especially as it acts in conjunction with anthropogenic global warming, there is an urgent need for immediate action." The statement then advocates for strategies "to limit future release of CO2 to the atmosphere and/or enhance removal of excess CO2 from the atmosphere."[3]
[edit] Meetings
A meeting of the EGU members is convened at least once per year as Plenary Session of the Union.
[edit] Awards
The EGU awards a number of annual medals to recognize scientific achievements, such as the Milutin Milankovic Medal EGS EGU for "outstanding research in long term climatic changes and modeling."
