Welcome to the PIK Homepage of Hans-Martin Füssel

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Dr. Hans-Martin Füssel is a senior research fellow and head of the working group on adaptation in the research domain Sustainable Solutions at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Potsdam, Germany. Hans-Martin received a Ph.D. in Physics for his thesis "Impacts Analysis for Inverse Integrated Assessments of Climate Change" (University of Potsdam, 2003). He holds master's degrees in Computer Science (Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, 1992) and in Applied Systems Science (University of Osnabrück, 1995).

Hans-Martin joined PIK in 1996 to work for the ICLIPS project. In the initial phase of the project he developed the integrated database system for the ICLIPS integrated assessment model. Later he developed the climate impacts module of the ICLIPS model and the ICLIPS Impacts Tool, a graphical user interface to the extensive results database. From 2001 on, Hans-Martin worked for the projects cCASHh and EVA, where he developed a conceptual framework for climate change adaptation assessments. The focus of this work was on adaptation assessments for human health.

With a Marie Curie fellowship of the European Union, Hans-Martin stayed as a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy of Stanford University (California, USA) from June 2004 to June 2006, working mainly on integrated assessments of climate change under uncertainty and learning and on methodological issues in welfare-optimizing climate-economy models. From 2007 to 2009, he was a Professor by Special Invitation at the Ritsumeikan Research Center for Sustainability Science of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto (Japan).

Since 2007, Hans-Martin is leading the global vulnerability assessment of the project Climate Change and Justice.

Research interests

  • Global climate change vulnerability assessment
  • International adaptation funding
  • Climate change and global inequity
  • Climate change and human health
  • Probabilistic integrated assessment of climate change
  • Welfare optimization in global climate-economy models

Journal articles

NOTE: Except for open access articles, the links to PDF files below point to author-produced pre-prints. Please follow the DOI link to access the final article on the publisher's website.
  1. T. Bruckner, G. Petschel-Held, F.L. Toth, H.-M. Füssel, C. Helm, M. Leimbach, H.-J. Schellnhuber:
    Climate change decision-support and the tolerable windows approach
    Environmental Modeling and Assessment 4(4):217-234, 1999.
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1019076603956
  2. H.-M. Füssel, J. G. van Minnen:
    Climate impact response functions for terrestrial ecosystems [PDF]
    Integrated Assessment 2(4):183-197, 2001
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1013327206877
  3. F.L. Toth, T. Bruckner, H.-M. Füssel, M. Leimbach, G. Petschel-Held, H.-J. Schellnhuber:
    Exploring Options for Global Climate Policy: A New Analytical Framework [PDF]
    Environment 44(5):22-34, 2002
  4. F.L. Toth, T. Bruckner, H.-M. Füssel, M. Leimbach, G. Petschel-Held:
    Integrated Assessment of Long-term Climate Policies: Part 1 - Model Presentation [PDF]
    Climatic Change 56(1-2):37-56, 2003.
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1021332312119
  5. F.L. Toth, T. Bruckner, H.-M. Füssel, M. Leimbach, G. Petschel-Held:
    Integrated Assessment of Long-term Climate Policies: Part 2 - Model Results and Uncertainty Analysis [PDF]
    Climatic Change 56(1-2):57-72, 2003.
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1021384313027
  6. H.-M. Füssel, F.L. Toth, J.G. van Minnen, F. Kaspar:
    Climate Impact Response Functions as Impact Tools in the Tolerable Windows Approach [PDF]
    Climatic Change 56(1-2):91-117, 2003.
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1021340513936
    [The figures are reproduced very poorly in the final PDF file supplied by the publisher. High-quality versions of the figures are available in the author-produced preprint above.]
  7. T. Bruckner, G. Hooss, H.-M. Füssel, K. Hasselmann:
    Climate System Modeling in the Framework of the Tolerable Windows Approach: The ICLIPS Climate Model [PDF]
    Climatic Change 56(1-2):119-137, 2003.
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1021300924356
  8. H.-M. Füssel:
    The ICLIPS Impacts Tool: A Graphical User Interface to Climate Impact Response Functions for Integrated Assessments of Climate Change [PDF]
    Integrated Assessment 4(2):116-125, 2003.
    DOI: 10.1076/iaij.4.2.116.16703
    [Figures were converted to b/w before publication. Colour versions of the figures are available in the author-produced preprint above.]
  9. H.-M. Füssel, R. J. T. Klein:
    Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: An Evolution of Conceptual Thinking [PDF]
    Climatic Change 75(3):301-329, 2006.
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-006-0329-3
  10. H.-M. Füssel:
    Reducing the risk of a collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation: A comment [PDF]
    Integrated Assessment Journal 6(3):51-59, 2006
  11. H.-M. Füssel:
    Methodological and empirical flaws in the design and application of simple climate-economy models [PDF]
    Climatic Change 81(2):161-185, 2007.
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-006-9154-y
  12. H.-M. Füssel:
    Vulnerability: A Generally Applicable Conceptual Framework for Climate Change Research [PDF]
    Global Environmental Change 17(2):155-167, 2007.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.05.002
  13. H.-M. Füssel:
    Adaptation Planning for Climate Change: Concepts, Assessment Approaches and Key Lessons [PDF]
    Sustainability Science 2(2):265-275, 2007.
    DOI: 10.1007/s11625-007-0032-y
  14. R. Warren, S. de la Nava Santos, N.W. Arnell, M. Bane, T. Barker, C. Barton, R. Ford, H.-M. Füssel, R.K.S. Hankin, R. Klein, C. Linstead, J. Kohler, T.D. Mitchell, T.J. Osborn, H. Pan, S.C.B. Raper, G. Riley, H.J. Schellnhuber, S. Winne, D. Anderson:
    Development and illustrative outputs of the Community Integrated Assessment System (CIAS), a multi-institutional modular integrated assessment approach for modelling climate change
    Environmental Modelling and Software 23(5):592-610, 2008.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2007.09.002
  15. H.-M. Füssel:
    Assessing adaptation to the health risks of climate change: What guidance can existing frameworks provide? [PDF]
    International Journal of Environmental Health Research 18(1):37-63, 2008.
    DOI: 10.1080/09603120701358416
  16. J.B. Smith, S.H. Schneider, M. Oppenheimer, G.W. Yohe, W. Hare, M.D. Mastrandrea, A. Patwardhan, I. Burton, J. Corfee-Morlot, C.H.D. Magadza, H.-M. Füssel, A.B. Pittock, A. Rahman, A. Suarez, J.-P. van Ypersele:
    Assessing dangerous climate change through an update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "reasons for concern" [PDF]
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(11):4133-4137, 2009.
    DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0812355106
  17. H.-M. Füssel:
    Ranking of national-level adaptation options. An editorial comment. [PDF]
    Climatic Change 95(1-2):47-51, 2009.
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-009-9609-z
  18. H.-M. Füssel:
    An updated assessment of the risks from climate change based on research published since the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. [PDF]
    Climatic Change 97(3):469-482, 2009.
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-009-9648-5

Book chapters

  1. T. Kleinen, H.-M. Füssel, T. Bruckner:
    Vorsorgeprinzip und Klimawandel: Der Leitplankenansatz [in German].
    pp. 79-98 in: S. Böschen, M. Schneider, A. Lerf (eds):
    Handeln trotz Nichtwissen: Vom Umgang mit Chaos und Risiko in Politik, Industrie und Wissenschaft.
    Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2004
  2. H.-M. Füssel, R.J.T. Klein, K.L. Ebi:
    Adaptation Assessment for Public Health.
    pp. 41-62 in: B. Menne, K.L. Ebi (eds):
    Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies for Human Health.
    Steinkopff Verlag, Darmstadt, Germany, 2006
  3. T.R. Carter, R.N. Jones, X. Lu, S. Bhadwal, C. Conde, L.O. Mearns, B.C. O'Neill, M.D.A. Rounsevell and M.B. Zurek:
    New Assessment Methods and the Characterisation of Future Conditions [PDF]
    pp. 133-171 in: M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (eds):
    Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
    Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007
    [Review editors: H.-M. Füssel, G. Love, R. Street]
  4. S.H. Schneider, S. Semenov, A. Patwardhan, I. Burton, C.H.D. Magadza, M. Oppenheimer, A.B. Pittock, A. Rahman, J.B. Smith, A. Suarez F. Yamin:
    Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change [PDF]
    pp. 779-810 in: M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (eds):
    Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
    Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007
    [Contributing authors: J. Corfee-Morlot, A. Finkel, H.-M. Füssel, K. Keller, D. MacMynowski, M.D. Mastrandrea, A. Todorov]
  5. H.-M. Füssel:
    Climate, Geography and Macroeconomics: Revised Data, Refined Analysis, and New Findings [PDF]
    pp. 26-31 in: M. Ehlers, K. Behncke, F.-W. Gerstengarbe, F. Hillen, L. Koppers, L. Stroink, J. Wächter (eds):
    Digital Earth Summit on Geoinformatics 2008: Tools for Global Change Research.
    Wichmann, Heidelberg, Germany, 2008
  6. H.-M. Füssel, K.L. Ebi:
    Assessing Vulnerability of Human Health.
    pp. 115-132 in: A. Patt, D. Schröter, R.J.T. Klein, A. de la Vega-Leinert (editors):
    Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change: Making information useful for adaptation policy and decision-making.
    Earthscan, London, 2008
  7. H.-M. Füssel, M.D. Mastrandrea:
    Integrated Assessment of Climate Change.
    pp. 150-161 in: S. H. Schneider, A. Rosencranz, M. D. Mastrandrea, and K. Kuntz-Duriseti (editors):
    Climate Change Science and Policy.
    Island Press, Washington, DC, 2010

Working papers and conference proceedings

  1. F.L. Toth, T. Bruckner, H.-M. Füssel, M. Leimbach, G. Petschel-Held, H.-J. Schellnhuber:
    The tolerable windows approach to integrated assessments [PDF]
    pp. 403-430 in: Climate Change and Integrated Assessment Models - Bridging the Gaps, Proceedings of the IPCC Asia-Pacific Workshop on Integrated Assessment Models. CGER-Report CGER-I029-'97, Center for Global Environmental Research, Ibaraki, Japan, 1997
  2. H.-M. Füssel:
    Applying climate impact response functions in integrated assessment models of climate change [PDF]
    in: Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Applied Climatology (ECAC 2000), Pisa, Italy, 16-20 Oct 2000. Institute of Agrometeorology and Environmental Analysis, Florence, Italy, 2000
  3. H.-M. Füssel, R.J.T. Klein:
    Assessing Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change: An Evolution of Conceptual Thinking
    pp. 45-59 in: A Climate Risk Management Approach to Disaster Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change.
    (Proceedings of the UNDP Expert Group Meeting on "Integrating Disaster Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change", Havana, Cuba, 17-19 June 2002)
    Accepted paper (English, with colour figures) [PDF]
    Published paper (English, with simplified figures) [PDF]
    Published paper (Spanish, with corrupted figures) [PDF]
  4. H.-M. Füssel:
    The ICLIPS Impacts Tool: Presenting climate impact response functions for integrated assessments of climate change [PDF]
    Vol. 3, pp. 115-120 in: A. E. Rizzoli and A.J. Jakeman (eds), Integrated Assessment and Decision Support - Proceedings of the First Biannual Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs 2002), Lugano, Switzerland, 24-27 June 2002
  5. H.-M. Füssel:
    Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: Opportunities and Challenges for Adaptation Planning [PDF]
    EVA Working Paper No. 4, Potsdam, Germany, November 2003.
  6. H.-M. Füssel:
    Coevolution of the Political and Conceptual Frameworks for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment [PDF]
    pp. 302-320 in: F. Biermann, S. Campe, K. Jacob (editors), Proceedings of the 2002 Berlin Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change "Knowledge for the Sustainability Transition. The Challenge for Social Science", Global Governance Project, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2004
  7. H.-M. Füssel, R. J. T. Klein:
    Conceptual frameworks of adaptation to climate change and their applicability to human health [PDF]
    PIK Report No. 91, Potsdam, Germany, August 2004.
  8. H.-M. Füssel:
    Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Comprehensive Conceptual Framework [PDF]
    University of California International and Area Studies. Breslauer Symposium Paper 6
    Berkeley, California, December 2005.
  9. H.-M. Füssel:
    Social welfare functions in global climate-economy models: Methodological inconsistencies and their policy implications [PDF]
    Paper presented at the Third World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, Kyoto, Japan, 3-7 July 2006.
    Available at http://www.webmeets.com/files/papers/ERE/WC3/952/review_swf_twc.pdf.
  10. H.-M. Füssel:
    Adaptation to Climate Change: The Obvious and the Not So Obvious
    pp. 132-143 in: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Global Sustainability "Social Systems and Technological Strategies", Kyoto, Japan, 15-16 January 2007.
  11. H.-M. Füssel:
    The Ethical Dilemma of Climate Change: How Unequal is the Global Distribution of Responsibility for and Vulnerability to Climate Change? [PDF]
    pp. 26-27 in: Proceedings of the International Symposium "Climate Change and Global Sustainability", Potsdam, Germany, 27-29 October 2008.
  12. O. Edenhofer, G. Luderer, C. Flachsland, H.-M. Füssel (2008):
    A Global Contract on Climate Change [PDF]
    Policy paper prepared for the conference "A Global Contract Based on Climate Justice: The Need for a New Approach Concerning International Relations", Brussels (Belgium), 11 November 2008, 76+10 pp.
    Available at http://www.global-contract.eu/Background_Paper_index-21.html.
  13. H.-M. Füssel (2008):
    How Useful are Existing Adaptation Guidelines for Reducing the Health Risks of Climate Change? [PDF]
    pp. 98-107 in: M. Exner, G. Klein, A. Rechkemmer, F. Schmidt (editors): Towards Sustainable Global Health. SOURCE No. 11/2008, UNU-EHS.
    Available at http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file.php?id=558.
  14. H.-M. Füssel (2008):
    Adaptation to climate change: A new paradigm for action of just old wine in new skins? [PDF]
    pp. 45-50 in: Proceedings of the 23rd Symposium on Reliability Engineering of the Japanese Society of Materials Science, Tokyo, Japan.
  15. H.-M. Füssel (2008):
    The risks of climate change: A synthesis of new scientific knowledge since the finalization of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). [PDF]
    Background note to the World Development Report 2010, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
    Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2010/Resources/5287678-1255547194560/WDR2010_BG_Note_IPCC_Update.pdf.
  16. H.-M. Füssel (2009):
    New results on the influence of climate on the distribution of population and economic activity. [PDF]
    MPRA Paper 13788.
    Available at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/13788/.
  17. H.-M. Füssel (2009):
    The ethical dilemma of climate change: how unequal is the global distribution of responsibility for and vulnerability to climate change? [PDF]
    Proceedings of the IARU International Congress "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions", Copenhagen, Denmark.
    IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 6 (2009) 112013.
    Available at doi:10.1088/1755-1307/6/11/112013.
  18. H.-M. Füssel (2009):
    Review and quantitative analysis of indices of climate change exposure, adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and impacts. [PDF]
    Background note to the World Development Report 2010, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
    Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2010/Resources/5287678-1255547194560/WDR2010_BG_Note_Fussel.pdf.
  19. H.-M. Füssel (2009):
    The influence of climate on global population distribution. [PDF]
    Paper presented at the XXVI International Population conference (IUSSP 2009).
    Available at: http://iussp2009.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=93147.

Diploma and doctoral theses

Software

The ICLIPS Impacts Tool is a graphical user interface that provides access to a large database of climate impact diagrams from the ICLIPS project. The program is written in Java and runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and AIX platforms. It is a supplement to my doctoral thesis.

The ICLIPS Impacts Tool is available on a CD-ROM and via internet download. If you wish to receive a free copy of the CD-ROM, please send me an email.

With a fast internet connection, you can also download the ICLIPS Impacts Tool:

  1. Download IIT_v100.zip [ZIP] (613 MB!) to your computer.
  2. Extract all files from the ZIP archive IIT_v100.zip into a new folder, e.g. C:\IclipsImpactsTool\
    (The ZIP archive can be discarded afterwards.)
  3. On Windows systems, start IIT_win.bat from the newly created folder.
  4. On non-Windows systems, open quickguide.html in a web browser. The ICLIPS Impacts Tool Quick Guide provides detailed instructions for starting the ICLIPS Impacts Tool on different operating systems.
Comprehensive information about the ICLIPS Impacts Tool is provided in the Documentation Overview.

Data

G-Econ+ is a global database of climatic, demographic, and economic variables that corrects several inconsistencies in the G-Econ 1.3 database developed by Nordhaus (2006). G-Econ+ is available in a gridded version and at the level of national and subnational administrative units.

Contact details

Hans-Martin Füssel
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam
GERMANY

Phone: +49-331-288-2537
Fax: +49-331-288-2600
Email: fuessel@pik-potsdam.de



Last change: 10 March 2010

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