“We’re seeing two Big Bangs,” said PIK’s director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: the so-called Integrated Assessment Models – computer simulations to comprehensively assess interactions between climate policy, energy systems, and society – are to be brought to a new level of quality (PIAM, Potsdam Integrated Assessment Modelling framework). And at the same time, PIK aims to advance Earth System modelling through coupling existing simulations (POEM, Potsdam Earth Model). Schellnhuber appeared highly pleased with the lectures and lively debate.
“The last year was extraordinary,” said Schellnhuber in his report to the members of the institute. PIK was very successfully evaluated by a team of international experts. More importantly, the global as well as national heat record 2014 underlined how pressing the issue of climate change is. “This shows that the most important years of PIK are still ahead,” said Schellnhuber. “It is because we understand better and better the past and present of our climate, that we feel we have a duty to speak out about the future."
