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Educational project 'GemüseAckerdemie' wins special innovation award

10/15/2014 - The educational project 'GemüseAckerdemie' (a play of words on vegetable field/field for learning) has been designated an "Excellent Place in the Land of Ideas", a special award which honors innovative projects helping to make rural areas fit for the future. A certificate signed by German President Joachim Gauck was handed over to the initiator of the GemüseAckerdemie Christoph Schmitz by Brandenburg's agriculture minister Jörg Vogelsänger.

Trapped atmospheric waves triggered more weather extremes

08/12/2014 - Weather extremes in the summer - such as the record heat wave in the United States that hit corn farmers and worsened wildfires in 2012 - have reached an exceptional number in the last ten years. Man-made global warming can explain a gradual increase in periods of severe heat, but the observed change in the magnitude and duration of some events is not so easily explained. It has been linked to a recently discovered mechanism: the trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere. A new data analysis now shows that such wave-trapping events are indeed on the rise.

New numbers, new movement: from the UN Climate Summit to the Global Carbon Project

09/25/2014 - The UN climate summit this week in New York brought progress in an unexpected way. "Most of the politicians in the hall gave speeches of the same old conventional type – effusive formulation, minimalistic commitment," said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who himself took part in the meeting of 120 heads of state. "But it took place against a novel background, generated on the streets of New York by more than 300,000 people. If the politicians don't pull from the front, civil society will just have to push. Last week we saw how climate protection is developing into a world citizens' movement."

Edenhofer presents reform concept for EU emissions trading scheme in Brussels

09/29/2014 - The emissions trading scheme as the most important pillar of European climate policy is currently under great scrutiny, as permit prices have been low. Europe’s technical academies (Euro-CASE) just published a comprehensive reform concept that outlines pathways to advance the emissions trading scheme. Ottmar Edenhofer presented this report in Brussels, in personal meetings with Jos Delbeke, Director General for Climate Action of the European Commission, and Ivo Belet, rapporteur of the ETS reform for the European Parliament.

Local food supply could help propel global food security

9/4/2014 - Local or regional food supply could help ensure food security across continents, a new study conducted by scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) says. It explores under which conditions a shift to local food supply may result in food self-sufficiency. The researchers found that by increasing crop yield in a number of ways, every continent could become food self-sufficient by 2050. This could substantially diminish the current demand for international agricultural trade, although it will continue to be relevant to some regions. The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that actions at a local level could help achieve food self-sufficiency in many regions.

High-ranking Taiwanese delegation visits PIK

09/16/2014 – During a recent visit to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Minister of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wei Kuo-yen, was briefed on the latest climate change research findings. The 14-member delegation included the Representative of the Taipei Office in Germany, Agnes Hwa-Yue Chen, her deputy Klement Gu and scientists from leading Taiwanese universities and business representatives. During his discussion with the group, PIK Director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber acknowledged the influence of the island, "What Taiwan does for climate change matters."

Charity concert on the Telegraph Hill: The sound of the forest

09/02/2014 - For the second time, soloists of the renowned Staatskapelle Berlin and singers of the State Opera gathered for an exceptional charity concert on the Telegrafenberg (Telegraph Hill) in Potsdam. In the suspenseful darkness of the Great Refractor, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber - Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) - spoke of the reason for creating and promoting this unique mix of music and science: "Science can appeal to the the mind of man, but music can win over his heart." Complemented by short presentations of PIK researchers Hermann Lotze-Campen, Susanne Rolinski and Christopher Reyer, this year's concert focused on "The Sound of the Forest" and included both classical and contemporary compositions.

The cost of delay: White House report citing PIK research

08/30/2014 - Delaying climate policy might enhance costs substantially. The US government in a major recent report makes this finding a central message, citing a number of studies led by scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Mitigation costs increase, on average, by approximately 40 percent for each decade of delay, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors states in the report. Inaction is likely to cause persistent economic damages, they argue – many billions of Dollars each year in the US alone.

Dead ends and solutions for the climate crisis: Panel discussion with Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks

09/01/2014 – Dr. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Dr. Michael Otto, Chairman of the Otto Group Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Michael Otto Foundation for Environmental Protection, Prof. Dr. Christian Thomsen, President of the Technische Universität Berlin, Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor for Climate Economics at the Technische Universität Berlin and Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute in Washington D.C. will discuss "Climate change and climate mitigation between global transformation and national challenges" in Hamburg on September 2, with topics ranging from Germany's energy transition to the European Union's emissions trading.

Antarctica could raise sea level faster than previously thought

8/14/2014 - Ice discharge from Antarctica could contribute up to 37 centimeters to the global sea level rise within this century, a new study shows. For the first time, an international team of scientists provide a comprehensive estimate on the full range of Antarctica’s potential contribution to global sea level rise based on physical computer simulations. Led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the study combines a whole set of state-of-the-art climate models and observational data with various ice models. The results reproduce Antarctica’s recent contribution to sea level rise as observed by satellites in the last two decades and show that the ice continent could become the largest contributor to sea level rise much sooner than previously thought.