Climate of the Present

Deep Purple on Ice – Research on the Greenland Ice Sheet During the Pandemic

Rey Mourot, Laura Halbach and Eva Doting December 11, 2020

Figure 1 (by Laura Halbach): immortalization of the successful fieldwork under the sunset light of the last day on the ice. From left to right: Ph.D. student Laura Halbach, PI Martyn Tranter, camp manager Lasse Twiggs Degn, Ph.D. student Eva Doting, PI Liane G. Benning, PI Alex Anesio, Ph.D. student Rey Mourot.

Insights into the EU project Deep Purple, fieldwork during the COVID-19 pandemic and doing research in a camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Written by Ph.D. students Rey Mourot (GFZ Potsdam), Laura Halbach (Aarhus University) and Eva Doting (Aarhus University). On maps, Greenland is shown as a massive white island. This vast ice and snow cover plays a vital role in reflecting incoming solar radiatio ...[Read More]

A new European effort to better understand extreme weather

Gabriele Messori November 11, 2020

Feature Image: Screenshot of the european weather Extremes: DrIvers, Predictability and Impacts (EDIPI) homepage. Background Image Credits: Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by ESA.

Extreme weather events routinely have detrimental socio-economic impacts around the globe. In fact, weather-related events make up over 90% of natural disasters worldwide [1]. In the new millennium, the frequency of many extreme weather events such as droughts and high temperatures, has systematically exceeded the levels seen in the 1980s and 1990s [1], and anthropogenic climate change may further ...[Read More]

The ocean floor is sinking under the weight of sea level rise

Bramha Dutt Vishwakarma October 16, 2020

The figure shows a schematic of the sea level budget (a), the map (b) of GRACE observed rate of ocean mass change (mm/yr), and (c) is the corresponding ocean bottom deformation. Regions with increases in mass are subsiding, regions with decreases in mass are uplifting, but the global mean of ocean mass is increasing, hence the mean ocean bottom is subsiding.

Sea level rise is one of most dreadful consequences of anthropogenic (caused by humans) global warming. It is estimated that the loss of coastal infrastructure alone would cost the global economy more than 1 trillion dollars per year by 2100 [1]. This number is based on climate models, but these are only as good as our current understanding of the sea level rise. Therefore, researchers are monitor ...[Read More]

Desert loess: formation, distribution, geoscientific value

Kamila Ryzner, Janina Nett and Christian Zeeden September 25, 2020

Image of desert loess from Tunisia, provided by Sascha Meszner, Maximilian Pachtmann and Georg Mettig (Institute for Geography, TU Dresden; Germany).

Loess is an aeolian (wind-driven) silty sediment covering over 10% of the Earth’s land surface; it occurs predominantly in the mid-latitudes. On a global scale, loess is among the most widespread unconsolidated sediments, and of crucial importance for agricultural regions where loess deposits are known to form fertile soils because of its ability to store water and retain nutrients. Loess is compr ...[Read More]