Climate: Past, Present & Future

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]

LOESS IN TRANSLATION

Dr. Kaja Fenn November 25, 2020

Figure image: Loess profile in North Bulgaria. The Danube River in the distance.

Loess is a mineral, aeolian deposit with a range of definitions in literature, which class it as either a sediment, soil, or rock. Some classic texts suggest that “loess is not just the accumulation of dust” [1], and it must include additional processes such as loessification, calcification, pedogenesis, and in-situ weathering. The definition adopted depends on the scientific background and the qu ...[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]