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Record-wet and record-dry months increased in regions worldwide: climate change drives rainfall extremes

12.12.2018 - More and more rainfall extremes are observed in regions around the globe – triggering both wet and dry records, a new study shows. Yet there are big differences between regions: The central and Eastern US, northern Europe and northern Asia have experienced heavy rainfall events that have led to severe floods in recent past. In contrast, most African regions have seen an increased frequency of months with a lack of rain. The study is the first to systematically analyze and quantify changes in record-breaking monthly rainfall events from all over the globe, based on data from roughly 50,000 weather stations worldwide. Climate change from fossil fuel greenhouse gases has long been expected to disturb rainfall patterns.

Must-Knows for Climate Negotiators: 10 New Insights in Climate Science

10.12.2018 - Many impacts of human-induced climate change, from drought and heat waves to Antarctic ice melting, are coming earlier than expected. Extreme events, such as recent fires in North America and floods across Asia, can with increased certainty be linked to global warming. Halving global emissions over the next decade is technically achievable and would save the world billions of dollars, say scientists in a new statement to coincide with the UN annual climate talks in Katowice, Poland.

Planetary Boundaries and Global Commons - managing risks and solutions

11.12.2018 - Weather extremes, food security, migration: people's livelihoods depend on climate stabilization. The joint side event of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) at the UN climate summit COP24 highlighted how a safe operating space for humanity within Planetary Boundaries and the sustainable use of Global Commons like the atmosphere are key concepts combining natural and social sciences to safeguard our future. Based on these fundamental concepts, sound options for managing risks and solutions were explored by the new joint PIK leadership Johan Rockström and Ottmar Edenhofer.

Joint call for swift and just climate action: the Katowice Memorandum

10/12/2018 - Researchers, intellectuals and spiritual leaders jointly call for swift and just climate action. Together, they formulate the Katowice Memorandum at a symposium co-organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) during the 24th UN Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland.

PIK expertise at COP24 in Katowice

06.12.2018 - Experts from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are taking part in the UN climate conference COP24, from December 3 - 14 in Katowice, Poland. PIK's Designated Directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström for instance will speak at High-Level Side Events about topics like the economy and development, and present new insights from climate science. A Joint Symposium organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique with eminent speakers like PIK's Director Emeritus Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, will discuss "Safeguarding Our Climate, Advancing Our Society".

Ricarda Winkelmann wins academics' young scientist award

06/12/2018 - Ricarda Winkelmann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has been honoured as this year's Young Scientist of the Year by 'academics' by ZEIT publishing group. Winkelmann was awarded due to her outstanding and groundbreaking research and publication achievements in researching the climate system and the risks of climate change. She is junior professor for Climate System Analysis at the University of Potsdam and scientist at PIK in research domain Earth System Analysis. She heads the Leibniz project "DominoES - Domino Effects in the Earth System" as well as the PIK working group on ice sheet dynamics.

Statement on what matters at COP24 in Katowice

03/12/2018 - Today the UN climate summit COP24 will begin in Katowice, Poland. Leading scientists from the Potsdam Institute will participate in a number of high level meetings and events. Johan Rockström, Director Designate of PIK, issued a statement on the kick-off of the climate negotiations.

Ten PIK researchers among the most influential scientists in the world

29/11/2018 - Ten scientists, coming from different research domains from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are among the most highly cited researchers worldwide, according to a new ranking just published. Therewith, they are among the most influential scientifists in the world, their studies among the top 1% of scientific literature. Whether natural sciences or social sciences, PIK is one of the most renowned research institutions in Germany and worldwide, as the now published ranking once again shows.

UNEP Emissions Gap Report published

27/11/2018 - The UN Environment Programme UNEP published its 'Emissions Gap Report' in Paris. This comes only days before the start of the UN climate summit COP24 in Poland where representatives of more than 190 states will discuss international climate policy.

A Greentech Race towards Climate Stabilization: European Expert Group Publishes Landmark Innovation Report

28.11.2018 - Zero-carbon solutions, i.e. technologies and lifestyles completely free of fossil-fuel use, must be the foci of European investments into research and innovation. Conventional low-emission options have very limited potential to contribute in time to avoiding dangerous global warming, an independent group of eminent experts concludes. By way of contrast, ambitious innovation programs can kick-start a greentech race to the top, while boosting the competitiveness of the European economies and securing our prosperity. The “High-Level Panel on Decarbonization Pathways” report is published today, together with the European Commission Communication Strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emission reductions, in the run-up to the UN climate summit (COP24) in Katowice, Poland.

Successful classic updated: "Climate Change" by Schellnhuber and Rahmstorf

23/11/2018 - Summer drought in Germany, heavy rainfalls in Japan, devastating forest fires in California, storms over the Mediterranean Sea - everyone is talking about climate change, not least after the devastating weather extremes this summer. In their book, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and Stefan Rahmstorf summarise the current state of climate science in a compact and easy-to-understand way. "Climate change - diagnosis, prognosis, therapy", the German classic on climate change from the publishing house Beck, has now been completely updated for its 8th edition.

EPICC Kick-off: Strengthening international collaboration

23.11.2018 – From Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, to Lima in Peru and New Delhi in India – EPICC kicked off its transnational collaboration with a series of workshops with international government and science officials to strengthen resilience against disruptive weather phenomena and change at national, regional and local levels. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is leading the execution of the East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities (EPICC) project together with its project partners The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in New Delhi, and the German Meteorological Service (DWD) in Hamburg.

Winter weather extremes in the US and Europe: messing with giant airstreams in the stratosphere

22/11/2018 - Over Thanksgiving, arctic air masses are predicted to bring record-cold temperatures and frigid winds to the Northeast of the United States. Driver for such winter weather extremes is often the stratospheric polar vortex, a band of fast moving winds 30 kilometers above the ground. In winter, when the polar vortex is disturbed by upward-blowing air masses, this can bring cold spells over Northeastern America or Eurasia, a new study now shows. And paradox as it might seem, climate change might further disrupt the complex dynamics in the atmosphere – bringing us not only more hot extremes in summer but potentially also cold spells in winter.

Bits & Bäume - PIK-experts at conference for digitalisation and sustainability

16/11/2018 – This weekend and for the very first time, a new networking conference in Berlin brings digitalisation and sustainability together through various panels, workshops and talks. Among the organisers are Germanwatch, Brot für die Welt, the Chaos Computer Club und other well-known organisations. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) takes part with various lectures and workshops by Sabine Auer, Frank Hellmann and Anton Plietzsch.

Statement on the current California forest fires

12.11.2018 - The California forest fires are currently burning across the State having forced hundreds of thousands of residents to flee their homes, among them also stars like Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler, Kim Kardashian or Lady Gaga. These are probably the worst forest fires in California's history.

Science and the state capital Potsdam become climate partners

11.11.2018 - Potsdam's mayor Jann Jakobs and researchers from severeal institutes in the state capital have aggred upon a "climate-partnership". Among the signatories is Ottmar Edenhofer, acting director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The goal of the partnership: Until 2050 the city plans to bring its CO2 emissions to almost zero - in this way the municipality would make its contribution to the climate stabilization targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.

IPCC report on 1.5°C: Unprecedented transformation needed to reach climate targets

08/10/2018 - Limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, says a new detailed assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries were involved in preparing the report, among them Elmar Kriegler from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) who is one of the lead authors for the key chapter on mitigation pathways. The Special Report on Global warming of 1.5°C will be an important scientific input into the UN climate summit in Poland in December and was prepared in response to an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change when the historic Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.

Earth League meets up in New Delhi: Climate Jamboree and Science Circle

08.11.2018 - From weather extremes to sea-level rise and tipping elements - more than 10.000 youths came together with science experts and artists last week in New Delhi for the Climate Jamboree Conference. Johan Rockström, PIK Director Designate, and Stefan Rahmstorf, Chair of PIK research domain Earth System Analysis, were among the key speakers, with lectures on a safe future for humanity on earth and new insights and hot topics from climate science. Organized by Leena Srivastava of TERI School of Advanced Studies, the participative Climate Jamboree with scientific talks, workshops and concerts was the grand finale of a series of events with the aim to empower youth to engage for climate action and sustainable development.

Science in the Berlin Underground

09/11/2018 - Where can you get in touch with scientists? One possibility was "Mind the Lab - Science in the Berlin Underground", where various research institutes took part with kind support of the BVG. The aim of this event, which was part of the Berlin Science Week, was to bring as many people as possible closer to concrete science, and for that there were information stands with experts at various Berlin underground stations. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research presented itself at the Möckernbrücke subway station and, among other things, provided information on methods for obtaining data for the climate models of the future from climate archives such as stalactites.

Extreme weather will likely become more frequent due to stalling of giant waves in the atmosphere

01/11/2018 - Computer simulations predict a strong increase of events in which the undulations of the jet stream in the atmosphere stop moving along and grow very large. This can favor more frequent extreme weather events on the ground: the westerly winds stop pushing forward weather systems which hence become more persistent – a few sunny days grow into heatwaves, extended rains lead to floods. An international team of scientists links this to human-caused warming specifically in the Arctic.

Forecast of withdrawal of Indian Summer Monsoon proves once more successful

24/10/2018 - The Indian Summer Monsoon has withdrawn from the Central part of India last week as predicted by PIK scientist Elena Surovyatkina and her team 80 days in advance. It is the earliest forecast of the withdrawal date ever made and currently the only one available in India. Since 2016, all PIK predictions of the monsoon onset and withdrawal have been successful, that´s six correct forecasts in three years in a row.

Ackerdemia wins KfW award 2018

19/10/2018 - The project of the former scientist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Christoph Schmitz, has been honoured with the special prize for Social Entrepreneurship in the nationwide corporate competition "KfW Award Gründen 2018". Ackerdemia aims at introducing children to a healthy diet through direct experiences on the field.

New report updates “Limits of Growth”: PIK experts speak at Club of Rome anniversary conference

17/10/2018 - “Transformation is feasible” - to update its legendary “Limits of Growth” report, the Club of Rome commissioned a new report on how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals within the Planetary Boundaries that was now published in Rome. Produced by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Norwegian Business School in Oslo, and funded by the Global Challenges Foundation, the report for the 50 year anniversary conference stresses that while most original conclusions remain valid, inequality reduction and new economic models are necessary for long-term economic and planetary stability. One of the authors of the commissioned report is Johan Rockström, Director Designate of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Manifesto by Wolfgang Lucht: "Das Wasser der Nachfolge"

05.10.2018 - We live in the Anthropocene, an era in which mankind as a global, geological force is changing the earth. Climate change, ocean acidification, extinction of species, deforestation and overfishing are just a few symptoms of human influence on our planet. "So what is the churches' opinion on the environmental question?" What do we say as Christians?", asks Wolfgang Lucht, Co-Chair of the Research Domain Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in his manifesto "Das Wasser der Nachfolge". This chapter was published in the recently released German book "Life in the Anthropocene - Christian perspectives for a culture of sustainability" by oekom. His manifesto directly adresses the churches, whose commitment is vital for the necessary transformation to a socially and environmentally sustainable society.

Overcoming barriers for climate policy: Short-term policies can bring long-term targets in reach

15.10.2018 - To make climate policy more stringent, a smart sequencing of measures is a promising option. An international team of researchers now proposes a framework for doing so using policy sequencing – experiences from Germany and California serve as examples. Specific policy options at early stages enable more ambitious policies at later stages by removing or relaxing barriers that prevented their implementation. This might be a usefull approach for for the design of long term policies such as the currently debated German coal phase out.

Sustainable and healthy food to feed the world in 2050: Nature study

10/10/2018 - “Feeding a world population of 10 billion people is possible - yet only if we change the way we eat, and the way we produce food, our research shows. Greening the food sector or eating up our planet: this is what is on the menu today,” says Johan Rockström, Director Designate of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He’s one of the authors of a new study now published by an international team of scientists in the journal Nature.

Statement on the upcoming 1.5°C IPCC report

2018/10/05 - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently engaged in the final consultations with representatives of states worldwide in South Korea to adopt its special report on 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. Researchers from the Potsdam Institute are involved in these efforts. In the Paris Climate Accord in 2015, the international community had agreed to limit global warming to "well below two degrees", 1.5 degrees being mentioned as an aspirational target. The IPCC report on the feasibility and impacts of more ambitious warming limit will be published on Monday. The new twin leadership of the PIK issued a statement on the issues at stake.

"Which Future?!" and "Schimmelreiter": Climate research on stage

02/10/2018 - What if Italy would exit the Euro and the currency would collapse? What if there were no money at the ATMs, due to a new banking crisis? What if there were a migration crisis? What if there were sudden and extreme climate changes? Questions like theses are discussed in the new play "Let Them Eat Money. Welche Zukunft?!" (Which Future?!) that just premiered at the Deutsche Theater in Berlin.

Making climate change scenarios more comprehensible: New interactive online toolkit

01/10/2018 – Climate change is happening in an interdependent concert with other processes of environmental, social, technical, economic, and cultural change. Within this context, global warming is projected in scenarios of what could happen, describing possible climate change futures. But what are climate change scenarios and how are they connected to socioeconomics, energy, land use, emissions, or climate impacts? The new interactive primer to climate change scenarios developed by the SENSES project at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) aims at explaining and visualizing these crucial basics.

Albatross: Film event with PIK’s new Artist in Residence Chris Jordan

25/09/2018 - From September to November Chris Jordan is visiting the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as Artist in Residence. The programme is a cooperation between PIK, the state capital Potsdam and the Berliner Künstlerprogramm DAAD, aiming at the exchange of science and art in the context of climate research. Jordan, US based artist and filmmaker, will present his film “Albatross” about ocean plastic pollution in Thalia Cinema in Potsdam this week in a public film event.

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