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2011

Climate scientist writes for children, and other new books

12/30/2011 – Several intriguing books have been published by scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) this year. The probably most unusual one is by Stefan Rahmstorf, co-chair of the Earth System Analysis research domain: He wrote a book on climate and weather for children. Other books cover topics ranging from extreme events to China to religion – to name just a few.

Proposals for reducing emissions must balance with development needs

12/22/2011 – How to integrate developing countries into global CO2 reduction schemes is subject of an ongoing debate. An approach for balancing climate change mitigation and the need for development is now being presented by the North South Project of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The study shows that emissions of societies up to now are closely linked to their human development levels under parallel consideration of the 2 degrees target. The 2 degrees guardrail by 2050 has been accepted by states around the world in order to prevent dangerous climate change.

Excellence at PIK

12/22/2011 - The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is one of the most important scientific institutions in this field of research worldwide; many international scientists are therefore drawn to Potsdam. A manifestation of the excellent work done at PIK is the growing number of professorships held by PIK scientists or to where they move on.

„Providing information for transformation”

12/19/2011 – This year has been “a good year of good science,” said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), at the conclusion of the 2011 Research Days. This annual gathering of all PIK scientists is an opportunity to discuss research results and new projects. One of the latter is a big intercomparison project of global warming impact models that will be relevant for the 2014 assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For socioeconomic scenarios as well, an intercomparison project has been launched. Both are coordinated by PIK.

Climate knowledge for computer game

12/19/2011 - With two digital projects, staff members from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) supported professional programmers with their expertise. For the computer game “Anno 2070”, scientists of the research project Climate Media Factory, funded by the federal government, discussed scenarios of global warming with game developers and informed them about the latest state of climate science. PIK contributed a problem statement for a programming contest as well. Both projects were about knowledge transfer.

The dilemma of geoengineering

12/13/2011 – End-of-the-chimney fixes for anthropogenic global warming are becoming increasingly popular in public debate. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), now sheds some light on the fundamental dilemma of geoengineering in a comment published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “This is a tale of two fairies: the rather wicked one conjures up solar radiation management, and the tolerably good one delivers CO2 removal through schemes like industrial ‘air capture,” says Schellnhuber. The latter however would generate “a multitrillion dollar bill,” he points out.

Durban: an ambivalent outcome

12/11/2011 – The outcome of the Durban summit is ambivalent, according to leading scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), interviewed by various media. The world map of climate politics has changed, said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of PIK. “China is not speaking for the poor countries any longer, which have joined forces with Europe instead.” The EU and Germany “had a strong showing in Durban,” adds Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist of PIK. However, both are stressing the fact that too little has been achieved at the negotiations. The more than 190 states did not agree on a binding reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions.

Science and Policy: Dialogue in Durban

12/06/2011 - Leading policy-makers and researchers met today in Durban to urge climate negotiators to acknowledge scientific findings and address the sustainability challenge. Amongst the participants of this dialogue were Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa and Co-Chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, and the European Union’s Climate Comissioner Conny Hedegaard, as well as Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Nicholas Stern from the London School of Economics. The event was hosted by Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Johan Rockström, Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Global warming “not slowing down”

12/06/2011 - A new analysis of the five leading global temperature data sets provides further evidence for climate change. Despite some differences between the measurement curves they indicate an almost identical, steady global warming trend over the past 30 years. The researchers factored out three of the main factors that account for short-term fluctuations in global temperature: el Niño, volcanic eruptions and variations in the sun’s brightness. “Differences between the five data sets reside, to a large extent, in their short-term variability,” says Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, one of the study’s authors. ”After the variability is removed, all five of them are very similar.”

Scheduling for Durban - and beyond

11/24/2011 – At the moment, hardly anyone expects a breakthrough of the climate summit in Durban. Even before the negotiators from around the world come together in South Africa at the end of November, some observers already turn away bored. Especially for this reason, scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) direct attention to questions that go beyond the summit with a whole series of media briefings these days. What happens if nothing happens in Durban? That is the natural scientific view on climate change. And what works if nothing works in Durban? That is the view on economy and politics. New scientific findings show ever clearer what the risks of resigning to human-made global warming could be – and what chances climate protection still offers.

European Parliament: towards a low carbon economy

11/11/2011 - To support its discussions about pathways towards a competitive low carbon economy, the European Parliament (EP) recently organised a workshop in Brussels. Daniel Klingenfeld from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research contributed the scientific view. Other experts were from the International Energy Agency, Business Europe, and the European Commission. The members of the EP's Committee on the Environment announced they will use the results of the workshop to propose concrete measures that the Commission should introduce within three years if the 2050 target is to be realised.

Schellnhuber receives renowned Volvo Environment Prize

11/04/2011 - The Volvo Environment Prize was awarded to the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, in Stockholm yesterday. The internationally recognized prize for “outstanding innovations or scientific discoveries” is in its 20th year and is endowed with 160.000€. Schellnhuber is the first German to receive the prize.

Strengthening links between Indian and German researchers

10/28/2011 - Indische Wissenschaftler wollen ihre Verbindungen zum Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) ausbauen. Das Institut für sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel in Bangalore hat Jürgen Kropp eingeladen, bei einer hochrangig besetzten Konferenz vergangene Woche die Hauptrede zu halten sowie die Eröffnung und die Schlussbemerkungen zu machen. Kropp ist Leiter des Nord-Süd-Projekts im PIK-Forschungsbereich Klimawirkung und Vulnerabilität. Unter den mehr als 200 Teilnehmern war der Premierminister und der Präsident des Bundesstaates Karnataka. Das Treffen stand unter dem Motto „Kooperation zwischen Deutschland und Indien stärken“ und wurde von der Humboldt Stiftung unterstützt.

Thawing Tundra, endangered crops - new books by PIK-scientists

10/26/2011 - How can climate types be categorized to comprehend climate changes ore precisely? How can crops adapt to a changing climate? And where to find comprehensive analyses and questions on ecological, political and economic aspects of climate change in one volume? Several contributions to books of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) recently published give some answers.

Climate Change a core topic at the World Health Summit

10/26/2011 - What are the consequences of climate change for public health? The World Health Summit made this question, rather neglected in public debate, one of its core topics this week. This was a cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK): research domain leader Wolfgang Lucht was one of the two keynote speakers.

“Paying to avoid”?

10/17/2011 - A high-ranking delegation from Ecuador, led by Ivonne Baki, Head of the Yasuní Initiative Negotiating Team, visited the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) last thursday to promote the so called Yasuní Initiative. The Yasuní Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) Initiative introduces the idea of “paying to avoid” to preserve the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador by leaving its newly found oil reserves in the ground.

Researchers put new spin on world´s water cycle

10/13/2011 - The final report of the Water and Global Change programme (WATCH), an extensive analysis of the world’s water resources, is made available today, significantly expanding the understanding of climate change and land use impacts on the global hydrological cycle. A total of 25 institutions from 14 European countries participated in this project, including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

„Tireless admonisher“ receives Federal Cross of Merit

10/06/2011 - Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), was awarded the Order of Merit, first class, of the Federal Republic of Germany by President Christian Wulff this tuesday.

Art meets science at historic ensemble

10/04/2011 - „The most beautiful science campus of the continent“ is now even prettier: the small cupola of the former photographic refractor on Telegraphenberg was inaugurated – and with it the “Artist in Residence” program, which encourages a dialogue between the sciences and arts.

Water management: „China is open for advice”

09/26/2011 - More than 140 million people live there, and businesses are booming: water is getting scarce in the Haihe river basin in northern China. High-ranking representatives of the local Water Conservancy Commission now came to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) to obtain reports on water management constrained by climate change. For two years, experts from the region – which encompasses the large cities Beijing and Tianjin – have been partnering with those of PIK. Modelling of sustainable use of resources, once developed for the Elbe river region in Germany, is applied to some particularly dry parts of the Haihe.