CL
Climate: Past, Present & Future

Climate of the Present

A Remote Sensing Solution for Nitrous Oxide: The Greenhouse Gas We Need to See Better

October 2, 2026
A Remote Sensing Solution for Nitrous Oxide: The Greenhouse Gas We Need to See Better

When we talk about greenhouse gases and climate change, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) usually receive most of the attention. Yet another gas, nitrous oxide (N2O), quietly plays an important role in our changing climate. Commonly known as “laughing gas”, N2O is a powerful greenhouse gas with nearly 273 times the warming potential of CO2 over a 100-year period. Once released, it can remain ...[Read More]

When ozone enters a leaf: why the details matter for Earth system models

September 18, 2026
When ozone enters a leaf: why the details matter for Earth system models

(Schematic cross-section showing leaf stomatal O_3 uptake, chloroplast oxidative stress, and the resulting downregulation of Earth’s global photosynthetic carbon uptake (GPP)) We usually think of ozone as a shield high in the atmosphere or as an air pollutant that harms human lungs near the ground. But plants also “breathe” ozone. Through microscopic pores called stomata, leaves take in carb ...[Read More]

Why the Same Soot Can Warm One City and Cool Another

and July 20, 2026
Why the Same Soot Can Warm One City and Cool Another

Every time something burns incompletely —whether in a car engine, a factory furnace, a cooking fire, an agricultural field set alight after harvest, or a vast wildfire sweeping through savanna grasslands— tiny particles of black carbon are released into the atmosphere. You might know these more simply as soot. These particles are so small that thousands of them laid side by side would barely stret ...[Read More]

Weaker but more frequent: how sea breezes are changing in a warming climate

and May 26, 2026
Weaker but more frequent: how sea breezes are changing in a warming climate

For the 500 million people living along the Mediterranean coast, the sea breeze is an essential component of the regional climate. They are more than a pleasant coastal wind, as they are critical for easing summer heat stress, dispersing pollutants, and triggering convection (the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air), sometimes leading to severe storms, among many others. But the Mediterranean ...[Read More]

Inside the Baltic Sea N2O Hunt: Tracing Sources using Isotopic tools

March 6, 2026
Inside the Baltic Sea N2O Hunt: Tracing Sources using Isotopic tools

Nitrous oxide (N2O), commonly known as laughing gas, is one of the most important greenhouse gases, and its rise in the Anthropocene significantly contributes to global warming and depletion of stratospheric ozone. The marine environment, especially coastal and marginal seas, is an important (about 25%) contributor to the global atmospheric source of N2O. Nitrous oxide is primarily produced in mar ...[Read More]

Studying societal climate impacts: why is it hard and what can we do about it

February 20, 2026
Studying societal climate impacts: why is it hard and what can we do about it

Due to the rapid rise in temperatures, it started raining on the snow and ice-covered roads, prompting the regional public transport operator to suspend all bus services. The rain also resulted in icing on the overhead lines of the main railway line coming into town. Rail traffic was also temporarily suspended. Before the adjacent highway could be salted, several tens of cars were involved in a ch ...[Read More]

When small-scale turbulence imprints on the global atmospheric circulation: Uncovering the Cause of the Double Intertropical Convergence Zone Bias in ICON

, , , and January 12, 2026
When small-scale turbulence imprints on the global atmospheric circulation: Uncovering the Cause of the Double Intertropical Convergence Zone Bias in ICON

One feature stands out in any map of tropical rainfall from satellites: a narrow band of intense precipitation encircling the globe near the equator. This is the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a key feature of the global atmospheric circulation that imports moisture into the tropics and exports energy to higher latitudes. But for decades, climate models have struggled to simulate this feature cor ...[Read More]

Türkiye’s Climate at a Crossroads

December 7, 2025
Türkiye’s Climate at a Crossroads

Climate change is often described as a challenge of the future. Yet through our latest work, we’ve realized the future is already unfolding across Türkiye’s landscapes and climates. The signs are visible in the shifting seasons, intensifying heatwaves, and changes in rainfall… As one of the authors of the study “High-Resolution Projections of Bioclimatic Variables in Türkiye: Emerging Patter ...[Read More]

The North Sea Is Heating Up: What Marine Heatwaves Tell Us About Climate Change?

November 3, 2025
The North Sea Is Heating Up: What Marine Heatwaves Tell Us About Climate Change?

As scientists, we are acutely aware that our planet’s climate is changing, but the speed and severity of these changes can still surprise us. As global temperatures rise, certain regions become hotspots experiencing more intense and amplified warming. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liège, I have been closely studying amplified warming and marine heatwaves in the North Sea under ...[Read More]

Can we improve our understanding of extreme precipitation events in the Sichuan Basin by using high-resolution regional climate models?

and April 7, 2025
Can we improve our understanding of extreme precipitation events in the Sichuan Basin by using high-resolution regional climate models?

Invited guest from the EGU 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award Context The Sichuan Basin, located at the eastern slope of the Tibetan Plateau in China, is a lowland region that regularly experiences heavy rainfall during the summer months. This is due to its complex topographical features (Fig. 1) and the influence of the East Asian monsoon. The heavy rainfall can ...[Read More]