Paleoclimate and Long-term Climate Evolution Seminar

Broadly speaking, paleoclimate research provides crucial insights into Earth’s climatic history, enabling us to comprehend natural climate variability and assess the drivers of climate change over long, geological timescales. This perspective not only enhances our understanding of Earth’s complex climate system but also helps inform contemporary climate science and policy by offering valuable benchmarks and context for assessing the impacts of human-induced climate change and developing strategies for mitigation and adaptation.

The Paleoclimate and Long-term Climate Evolution Seminar is a cross-departmental seminar at PIK and is organised by the working groups “Earth System Modes of Operation (ESMO)” and “Long-Term Dynamics of the Earth System (LOTES)” from RD1, and “Development of advanced time series analysis techniques” from RD4. This seminar will explore the complexities of past climate dynamics and their implications for the future, and aims to foster paleo work at PIK.

The format of contributions can span a wide range: for example, we invite

• talks about finished/ongoing/planned projects,
• appeals for help with paleoclimate-specific challenges,
• reviews of relevant literature,
• overviews of particular topics/methods, and
• accounts on research practices in paleoclimate and long-term climate evolution.

We hope to hold this seminar every 4–8 weeks over Zoom and in presence. All are welcome to participate, and the agenda/abstract for each session will be distributed approximately one week ahead of time via email to pikall@pik-potsdam.de. Please do not hesitate to contact the organisational team if you wish to contribute or suggest an external speaker! You can also add your idea to this spreadsheet (password: paleosem).

Past seminars

11 July 2024

• Christine Kaufhold: When will the next ice age begin?

29 January 2024

• geo.X-supported Workshop Paleoclimate research on the Telegrafenberg campus and within the Geo.X network

20 November 2023

1. Andrey Ganopolski: Understanding Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) stability
2. Open discussion about the state and future of paleoclimate and long-term climate research at PIK

18 September 2023 (Kick-off meeting)

1. Georg Feulner: Deep-time paleoclimate research in RD1’s working group “Earth System Modes of Operation”
2. Norbert Marwan: Paleoclimate research in RD4
3. Matteo Willeit: Long-Term Dynamics of the Earth System (LOTES)