The extra amount of energy from solar radiation trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels affects numerous most relevant processes in atmosphere and weather patterns – from heat and droughts to rain and floods. Weather extremes are increasing. Our climate changes, a climate which has been remarkably stable during millennia of human civilization. Earth system science disentangling the mechanisms at work is the very foundation for assessing the risks.
Weather, Extremes & Atmosphere
What happens high up in the sky affects everyone’s life down on the ground. This is one of our research topics.
News
Press Release
A third of animal habitats on land could experience multiple extreme events by 2085, new study
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Press Release
70 years of data show adaptation reducing Europe’s flood losses
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Press Release
Tropical bird populations reduced by a third since 1980, compared to a world without climate change
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News
PIK develops a new global, high resolution data set of atmospheric rivers
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Press Release
Weather station in Potsdam shows driest first half-year since measurements began over 130 years ago
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Press Release
Weak winds key factor in 2023 extreme North Atlantic heatwave – marine heatwaves set to worsen
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News
New study identifies causal links behind the increase in hot and dry extremes in Central Europe
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News
Leonie Wenz awarded Piers Sellers Prize 2024
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News
Katja Frieler: Climate Impact Professorship at the University of Potsdam
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People
Senior Scientist
