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Technological options are critical for economic viability of 2°C climate target
03/15/2010 - Tapping renewable energy sources, capturing and storing of industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and improving energy efficiency are pivotal for holding the increase in global temperature below two degrees Celsius. In a special issue of “The Energy Journal”, a team of researchers of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and four other European institutions reports that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases can be stabilized at correspondingly low levels at moderate costs. However, costs, as well as the dependency on specific technologies, increase with the chances to achieve the 2°C target.
Weakening Sun would hardly slow global warming
03/10/2010 - A new Grand Minimum of solar activity would decrease the rise of global mean temperature caused by human greenhouse gas emissions only marginally. A new modelling study by researchers of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, published online today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, finds a temperature offset of at most 0.3 degrees Celsius until the end of the century. This is less than ten percent of the temperature rise projected under “business as usual” scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Light-based computing, quick as a thought
02/24/2010 - Inspired by the fast processing of information in the human brain, a consortium of European research institutions is developing a novel kind of computing. The EU funded project “PHOCUS” that started in January aims at designing photonic systems, communicating via light, to quickly perform complex computations including the rapid processing of large amounts of data, potentially consuming far less power than current supercomputers.
New book rises to the global sustainability challenge
02/08/2010 - In the wake of the Copenhagen climate conference, which ended without a clear mandate for global climate protection, the new book Global Sustainability - A Nobel Cause, published by Cambridge University Press, addresses the main lines of conflicts and offers new solutions. The contributing authors - Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, medicine, economics and peace, top-level political leaders, representatives of major NGOs and renowned experts on sustainability - point out strategies for the stabilisation of the climate and global sustainable development. The open access publication is now available for download.
PIK devises climate strategy for Potsdam
01/19/2010 - A consortium of institutes and companies led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is to develop a strategy for climate protection for the City of Potsdam. The Mayor of Potsdam, capital of the German state of Brandenburg, Jann Jakobs, today entrusted the consortium with devising concepts for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change up to 2050. Following the sobering outcome of the world climate conference in Copenhagen, the engagement of cities, companies and private persons in reduction and adaptation issues appears to be especially important.
PIK will be leading member of Climate Initiative of European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Budapest/Potsdam, 12/16/2009 - The European Union´s Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced today its Knowledge and Innovation Community (‘Climate-KIC’), a cluster of 16 highly integrated partnerships, bringing together excellent higher education, research and business around the topics of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is one of its five major academic partners and will lead the German consortium. Among its members are the Berlin Institute of Technology, the Technische Universität München and the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. The Klima Campus Hamburg and the Forschungszentrum Jülich also joined prior to the implementation of the initiative.
Emissions cut of 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 needed for industrial countries for 2°C limit
12/15/2009 - Authors of the landmark 2009 climate report “The Copenhagen Diagnosis” estimate that by 2020 industrial nations must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by around 40% below 1990 levels to secure a decent chance of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate system.
Intelligent transfer of information on climate protection and adaptation options - PIK and GTZ present climate information service
12/12/2009 - In the light of the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) together with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) presented a preview of its climate service “ci:grasp” (Climate Impacts: Global and Regional Adaptation Support Platform) last thursday. “The central idea behind our platform is to develop a science-based tool to support decision making on adaptation to climate impacts at the regional level,” says Jürgen Kropp, Head of the North-South research group at PIK, which is developing the ci:grasp platform. The methodological approach guarantees higher efficiency of financial investments into adaptation measures as they can be focused and their effects be maximized.
Tipping Elements in the Earth System: How Stable is the Contemporary Environment?
12/08/2009 - A Special Feature of the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” presents the latest scientific insights on so-called tipping elements in the planetary environment. These elements have been identified as the most vulnerable large-scale components of the Earth System that may be profoundly altered by human interference. If one or more of those components is tipped – especially in the course of global warming – then the age of remarkably stable environmental conditions on Earth throughout the Holocene may end quickly and irreversibly.
Sea Level Rise could reach 1.9 Metres this century
12/07/2009 - A new scientific study warns that sea level could rise much faster than previously expected. By the year 2100, global sea level could rise between 75 and 190 centimetres, according to a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Climate Scientists make 'Copenhagen Diagnosis'
24/11/2009 - Climate change is accelerating beyond expectations, urgent emissions reductions required, say leading scientists.
The nature of past Antarctic temperature lead over carbon dioxide is clarified
11/11/2009 - The analysis of past changes of Antarctic temperature and the concentration of greenhouse gases alone cannot reveal causal relationships in the climate system. A recent modeling study shows that several climate processes need to be taken into account to discern causes and consequences. In the journal “Quaternary Science Reviews” researchers provide an explanation for observed Antarctic temperature lead over carbon dioxide concentration for several recent glacial-interglacial transitions.
60 Nobel Laureates: Copenhagen must be a Turning Point towards Global Sustainability
11/10/2009 - 60 Nobel Laureates are calling on world leaders for a global deal on climate change that matches the scale and urgency of the human, ecological and economic crises facing the world today. Political leadership is now more necessary than ever. The call comes in a Memorandum signed by Laureates from across the disciplines, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Mikhail Gorbachev, his Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mohamed el-Baradei, chief of the IAEA, and winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature Doris Lessing, John Coetzee and Wole Soyinka.
Europe will profit from climate protection if it acts now
09/11/03 - RECIPE (Report on Energy and Climate Policy in Europe), a European study on the costs of climate protection, has demonstrated for the first time that: • Early action is the only way to avert dangerous consequences from climate change at manageable costs. • Europe will profit from a leadership role, even if other countries continue to hesitate • Distributing the costs of climate protection will not overburden any region of the world; transfers to emerging nations will keep overall costs down • Climate change can only be contained if measures take effect by 2020
Monsoon model indicates potential for abrupt transitions
10/19/2009 - A self-amplifying effect presently sustains monsoon winds, but it could also disrupt the circulation over land and sea. The periodical rainfall could stop from one season to another or for months within seasons. High air pollution could lead to the disruption, researchers of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research report in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” Online Early Edition. Global warming increases the risk of abrupt monsoon transitions from high-precipitation to dry periods.
Harvest and save water to increase crop yields, say researchers
10/09/2009 - On-farm water management could increase global crop production by about one fifth, a modelling study by German and Swedish researchers indicates. However, even intensive water management on present cropland will not be sufficient to accommodate the food demands of a growing population in a warming world, the scientists report in the current edition of the “Environmental Research Letters”.
Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operating Space for Humanity
09/23/09 - Global biophysical boundaries can define a ‘safe planetary operating space’ that will allow humanity to continue to develop and thrive for generations to come, a group of 28 internationally renowned scientists proposes. Drawing upon current scientific understanding of the Earth System, the scientists make a first attempt to identify and quantify a set of nine planetary boundaries. This new approach to sustainable development that is to help humanity to deal with climate change and other global environmental threats in the 21st century is conveyed in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature.
The dusk of the coal paradigm - study discloses investment risks for German electricity utilities
09/08/2009 - Ambitious climate policy and high CO2 prices result in advantages for the four major energy providers in Germany in many cases. This is the finding of the study "German power utilities - caught in the CO2 trap?" presented at a conference of the Society of Investment Professionals in Germany (DVFA) in Frankfurt today. The study is a collaborative project of the WestLB bank and the research project “Climate Mainstreaming” that investigates climate-related opportunities and risks in insurance, asset management and lending.
Tipping Elements remain ‘hot’ issue
08/24/2009 - The article “Tipping elements in the Earth’s climate system” has been named one of the most highly-cited in the field of Geosciences published during the past two years. The media corporation Thomson Reuters has identified the article that appeared in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” in February 2008 as a New Hot Paper.
Advanced mathematics in mother-child relationships
07/13/2009 - The hearts of pregnant women and their unborn children sometimes beat in synchrony. This interaction is significantly influenced by the mother’s breathing, researchers report in the current online edition of the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”. The mathematical approach to identify the synchronisation epochs could be applied to detect complications early in pregnancy. It could equally be used for the analysis of complex patterns in the climate system.
