Beyond EVE: Organisations

Helmholtz Association - Earth System Knowledge Platform

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 21:21:28 +0100

ESKP (Earth System Knowledge Platform) is the knowledge platform of the Research Field Earth and Environment of the Helmholtz Association. The platform is supported by eight Helmholtz Centres:

AWI: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
DLR: German Aerospace Center
FZJ: Forschungszentrum Jülich
GEOMAR: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
GFZ: Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences
HZG: Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht, Centre for Materials and Coastal Research
KIT: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
UFZ: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

The platform is coordinated at Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The eskp.de website vividly conveys knowledge on the central topics of natural hazards, climate change, pollutants and the effects of the energy turnaround on the environment in the form of scientific articles, interviews, video clips, science GIFs, information graphics and more.

ESKP processes research findings for society. The range of expertise in the Research Area Earth and Environment allows complex topics to be examined from different perspectives and to be presented as a whole, in particular via the format of the “Themenspezial” (currently only in German). The contributions also point out open questions as an impulse back into the science community and provide action options. The aim is to improve the basis for decision-making in politics and society.

Senckenberg Society for Nature Research

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:13:43 +0100

To understand the natural and anthropogenic dynamic of our planet and its living world and to shape it in view of a sustainable development requires an understanding of the biological and geological processes within the earth system. Concerning - the analysis of biodiversity, its continuous changes, and their role in the earth system, - satisfying the corresponding need for knowledge in science and society, - and the application and development of relevant, top-of-the-line research methods, Senckenberg is among the world leaders. By applying and transferring our research results, and with our scientific collections as “archives of life,” we contribute to finding responsible solutions for global future challenges. The diverse synergies of our institutions create added value for science and society. We consistently continue to develop both our research as well as our transfer and communication concepts. On this basis, as a dialog partner in societal, economic and political decision-making processes we make a fundamental contribution toward shaping a sustainable future for the earth-human system. We provide the biological and geoscientific basis for these processes, thereby creating an awareness of nature’s importance for mankind. We study the breathtaking diversity and the fascinating interconnections in the inanimate and living nature of our planet to gain a deeper understanding of their functions and an awareness of their importance for humanity, allowing us to develop strategies for aiding the reconciliation of human society and nature. The research objects gathered from the natural world are deposited in scientific archives and permanently preserved for future generations. These collections serve both as a research base and a valuable cultural heritage. We communicate our findings to the scientific community as well as society in a variety of ways, e.g., in internationally visible publications, teaching at universities, in research networks, exhibitions in our museums, and in scientific lectures and conferences. We work to ensure that these results find their way into practical applications. Moreover, we are strongly committed to supporting scientific and technical training and advanced education.

Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI)

Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 13:27:25 +0100

As the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, the Alfred Wegener Institute is primarily active in the cold and temperate regions of the world. Working together with numerous national and international partners, we are actively involved in unravelling the complex processes at work in the “Earth System”. Our planet is undergoing fundamental climate change; the polar regions and the oceans, which play central roles in the global climate system, are in flux. How will planet Earth evolve? Do the phenomena we’re observing represent short-term fluctuations or long-term trends? Polar and marine research has always been a fascinating scientific challenge; today it is also research into the future.

Alfred-Wegener-Institut - Seaiceportal

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 14:23:17 +0100

Sea ice in the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic covers approximately seven percent of our planet, which is bigger than the total area of Europe. These seven percent have a relatively large impact on global climate. Sea ice is particularly driving heat and freshwater exchange of the polar oceans and therefore plays a key role in the earth's climate system. Structure, volume and spatial extent of sea ice are highly differentiated and variable. As a result of these physical characteristics, sea ice has great effects on the energy budget of the earth's surface. Sea ice is highly complex, but at the same time it is certainly one of the most interesting and influential materials on our planet. Additionally, sea ice is an especially fascinating habitat that is essential for the ecosystem of the polar regions. Seaiceportel is an initiative of the Helmholtz Climate Initiative (REKLIM), the Alfred Wegener Institut, Helmholtz Centre for polar and marine research, in cooperation with the University of Bremen (Institute for environmental physics). Its aim is to gather all important and up-to-date information connected to the subject of sea ice. The portal is offering comprehensive background information, processed data and direct access to the data base. Seaiceportal was laid out as an open portal and shall serve scientific groups performing research on sea ice as a platform for communicating the results of their research.

pacific garbage screening

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 15:33:19 +0100

The oceans and seas are the basis of all life on earth, but humans are increasingly destroying it. More than ten percent of plastic ends up in the oceans worldwide. In 2015 322 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide, and that number is rising every year. The pile of plastic garbage grows each day. Most of the plastic produced since 1959 can be found in its original form in landfill sites, in nature, in our rivers and in our oceans. This is one of our biggest environmental problems of our time, and something we don’t currently have a solution for. How does the plastic end up in the ocean? Every minute a full garbage truck dumps its load somewhere in the world’s oceans. Which amounts to 8 million tons of plastic a year. If we keep putting that much garbage into our oceans, the amount will be quadruplicated by 2050. Worldwide there are five major garbage patches, created by humans and shaped by the ocean’s currents. The ocean’s plastic is concentrated in these patches and slowly breaks down into little pieces. In all parts of our oceans, plastic can be found. The complex system of currents moves the plastic into the most distant corners of the world. The amount of plastic in the world’s ocean is estimated to 150 million tons. That is roughly a fifth of the weight of all the fish in our oceans. Researchers expect 1 ton of plastic per 3 tons of fish by 2025. If we do not drastically reduce the consumption of plastic, there will be the same amount of plastic as fish in the oceans by 2050.

For seagrass meadows the impacts could be severe

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 18:43:07 +0100

Two thirds of the earth's surface is covered by water. Oceans play an important role to us humans - they are food sources, heat stores, trade routes and one of the most important stores of carbon dioxide (CO2). In particular, seagrass meadows along the coasts absorb a lot of CO2, but this ecosystem is sensitive to the effects of climate change and could lose much of its storage function. Angela Stevenson, a postdoc in the "Marine Evolutionary Ecology" research unit at GEOMAR in Kiel, is examining the condition of seagrass meadows along the German Baltic Sea coast to find out how they can help to reduce CO2 emissions. What is special about seagrass meadows? Coastal vegetated systems, like seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and salt marshes, play an important role in the global carbon budget due to their exceptional ability to capture and store organic carbon below ground. Burial rates here are 30 to 50 fold greater than that of forests on land. In the Baltic Sea, seagrass meadows are vast. We have a total area of approximately 285 km2 of these habitats. How can one imagine seagrass meadows? Seagrasses are marine plants that live at depths of about 1 to 8 meters in German coastal waters, and slightly deeper elsewhere around the world. They have roots and root stocks, so called rhizomes, below ground, and shoots and leaves above ground. Like other plants, they need light to survive and take up CO2 during photosynthesis. It is the seagrass’ dense canopy that distinguish it from other plants in terms of enhanced carbon storage: the canopy increases particle capture from the water column and reduces water flow along the seafloor, efficiently lowering loosening up of sediments and hence protecting buried carbon. The plant’s intricate below-ground network of roots and rhizomes is not easily displaced, and their muddy sediments enhance low oxygen levels that inhibit microbial activity and thus remineralization of buried organic carbon. This process further increases longterm organic carbon burial efficiency.

Beware of the "Temperature Debt"

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:51:37 +0100

Artificial cooling of the atmosphere with aerosols carries a long-term risk

The Paris climate agreement obliges the international community to limit global warming to two degrees. However, man-made greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase instead of decreasing. Is climate engineering a solution to slow global warming? In the current issue of the journal Nature, Professor Andreas Oschlies from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel warns of an underestimated long-term risk of solar radiation management, one of the proposed climate engineering measures.

When the Pinatubo volcano erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it blew huge amounts of dust and gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, solar radiation was partly reflected instead of warming the earth's surface. Global average temperatures in the lower atmosphere temporarily dropped by half a degree. So why not copy the volcano by deploying large quantities of aerosols into the atmosphere in order to slow down the current global warming?

This idea is already being discussed internationally and first tests are under way. However, in today's issue of the journal Nature, the biogeochemist Prof. Dr. Andreas Oschlies from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel warns of an often disregarded side effect of so-called Solar Radiation Management (SRM). "Once you start SRM on a large scale, you cannot stop it without significant risks. This has been shown by many computer simulations of the Earth system," he emphasizes.

Reference:

Oschlies, A. (2018): Solar engineering must take temperature debt into account. Nature 554, 423 (2018), https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02203-x