topic Research

The Earth System

The earth, the planet on which we live, is highly sensitive. It is being constantly subjected to changes which interact in a complex system. What fundamental processes influence the climate and what role does mankind play in all of this? Answers to these and other questions can only be provided when the "earth system" has been studied and understood. BMBF funding programmes are supporting this research.

The sensitivity of the planet on which we live is revealed in many examples. At times the migration of the continents led to a worldwide and dramatic extinction of species while at the same time other species could adapt to the new living conditions by developing new life forms.

Understanding global cycles and the interaction of the geosphere (the solid Earth), the cryosphere (the ice masses), the hydrosphere (fluid water) and the biosphere (the entire flora and fauna) enables us to develop strategies against desertification, food crises and migration pressure, improve disaster relief and prevention and find new ways of crisis prevention as well as peace and conflict research.

Ever since industrial development began, humankind has actively influenced the Earth system. The mutual influencing will in turn change our habitat. We need knowledge of whether the Earth system can readily cope with the effects of the industrial societies and of internationally growing consumption. The burden on the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect, climate-relevant ocean currents and the ice masses at the Poles provide important indicators for a sustainable management of our planet as do the destruction of rain forests and the resulting changes.

"Klimazwei" - Research on Climate Change

The secretaries of the environment of the European Union agreed on 20th February 2007 that the EU will lower its CO₂-Emissions around 20% of the levels of 1990 up to the year 2020.

The development of practice-oriented strategies for a course of action is at the center of the new BMBF supporting measure "klimazwei - research for climate protection and the protection from climate change effects" of the master program "research for sustainability" (Forschung für Nachhaltigkeit - FONA). The past basic research on the climate system will be supplemented with application orientated aspects from climatic protection and grappling with a changing climate. In "klimazwei", research projects on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be supported as well as projects on the adaption to climate change.

These issues were already addressed by the former funding priorities in the area of atmospheric and climate research:

• In the Atmospheric Research Programme AFO2000 (concluded 2004), cross-cutting issues on "Interaction between the Earth Surface and the Atmosphere", "Chemistry, Dynamics, Radiation and their Interaction", "Multi-phase Processes" and "Atmosphere System Analysis: Models and Data" are being studied. New results will contribute to assessing the necessity and effectiveness of measures for clean air or climate protection or for more precise and reliable forecasts of weather and climate.
• The German Climate Research Programme DEKLIM (concluded 2005) was oriented to improving our understanding of the climate system and to identifying human influence on it, to reducing uncertainties in the analysis and forecast of the climate as well as to deriving strategies for actions for how to deal with climate change. A new quality in the interpretation of data on the past climate of the Earth in connection with a corresponding further development of climate modelling is therefore also the basis for a more precise forecast of the climate and climate effects at regional level.
  

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  topic Research

  Research on Climate Protection and Climate Change

  Greenhouse gases cause an increase of the earth's temperature. As a consequence, extreme weather incidents such as severe storms, floods and draught periods occur with increasing frequence. This is the conclusion of the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UNO. In 1992, 189 states agreed upon the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This led to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 with the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today it is realised, that strategies for the adaption to climate change are necessary. BMBF now supports the development of strategies oriented towards practical needs.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/8493.php)
   
  
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  topic Ministry

  03.05.2007

  Climate Research Summit

  Federal Research Minister Dr. Annette Schavan invited high-ranking representatives from industry, science, and politics to a national climate research summit to Hamburg. The goal is to close ranks between industry and science.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/8186.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Storage of Greenhouse Gases

  Greenhouse gas emissions are a motor of climate change. The EU countries are challenged to reduce their emissions of CO2 by 20% below the amount of 1990 and raise the proportion of renewable energy on consumption to 20%. This is a result of the German EU Presidency 2007. A key technology to achieve this goal is the capture of CO2 in the combustion of fossil fuels and its subsequent storage in geological formations. BMBF supports different research endeavours.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7869.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Marine Research, Polar Research, Geosciences

  Geoscientists study the processes and interactions in the overall Earth system in order to understand the natural balance and cycles and better assess the influence of humans. These issues are topics of research funding in the area of marine and polar research as well as the geosciences.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7605.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Biodiversity Research

  Flora and fauna are under constant scientific monitoring. Cycles between geosphere and biosphere, the interaction between the Earth and its inhabitants from unicellular organisms to humankind, the rainforests and their influence on our climate - all this must be studied in order to understand how complex but also how vulnerable the Earth system is. In the area of biodiversity research, the international Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) which was founded in 2001 and is supported by the BMBF, collects data on biodiversity which is available in research collections worldwide and makes it freely accessible via Internet.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/7606.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Seaquakes and the Tsunami Early Warning System

  Work to install a tsunami early warning system - the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) - in the most critical geological zone of the Indian Ocean, the Sunda Arc in Indonesia, began under German leadership in November 2005. Pilot operations began exactly three years later on 11 November 2008. With immediate effect, the GITEWS is now providing a decisive contribution to protecting coastal areas against natural disasters such as tsunamis. The development of the system also took into account findings in the field of earthquake research conducted by the National Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam in conjunction with other institutions.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/2402.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Polar Research: Tracking Climate Processes

  The polar regions are the climatic chambers of the Earth. Exchanges between ocean, ice and atmosphere provide important information on climate changes. Mathematical models for a reliable interpretation of the data are still lacking. Research in the Arctic and Antarctic is therefore of major importance for our understanding of the climate.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/2647.php)
   
  
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  topic Research

  Water - a Resource for Life

  Water is the most important aliment. About half of all hospital beds in threshold and developing countries are occupied by patients, who suffer from diseases spread and caused by contaminated drinking water. The heads of states and governments of the United Nations obliged themselves in 2000 to halve the number of humans without access to safe drinking water until the year 2015. With "integrated water resources management" (IWRM), surface water, aquifers, and coastal water resources shall be better and more carefully used through sustainable management.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/3934.php)