The TiPES Podcast - Tipping points change Earth and climate

Ocean currents might tip before we expect it

We know, that climate tipping could lead to abrupt climate changes. It now turns out, tipping might take place before we would expect it to - due to rate-induced tipping. Johannes Lohmann from Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, The Niels Bohr Institute, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

How we risk losing the Amazon in the next decades

Deforestation and climate change drive the Amazon rainforest towards tipping points. Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Change Impact on the mechanisms that threatens the South American rainforest.

Droughts in the Amazon rainforest can now be predicted

Severe droughts are becoming more frequent in the Amazon rainforest and not only damage the forest but also impact the lives of millions in the area negatively. Niklas Boers from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research explains how it is now possible to forecast these droughts up to 18 months in advance.

Confirmed: Sudden climate changes during ice ages influenced whole planet

It has long been suspected that the repeated abrupt spikes of heating which took place during the ice ages (Dansgaard-Oeschger events) impacted most parts of the world. Now it has been confirmed by data. Sune Olander Rasmussen from the NIels Bohr Institute explains the finding, published today in Science. 

On your own on an ice sheet

In 2015 Sune Olander Rasmussen from the Niels Bohr Institute was left with a small a few colleagues on the ice sheet of Renland in Eastern Greenland. Their job was to point out the best spot to drill ice which could be used for calibrating temperatures in other ice samples.

The urgency of understanding tipping points

We know from the past, that elements in the climate system might pass tipping points after which they enter new states with no return in a foreseeable future. Peter Ditlevsen, the Niels Bohr Institute speaks on the importance of the TiPES project.

Tipping Sahara from desert to green and back

Sahara turned green at the end of the last ice age. Climate sciencists have struggled to model exactly how the transition took place. Professor Paul Valdes from Physical Geography at Bristol University, Great Brittain explains how a detailed understanding is now within reach.

We narrowly missed an ice age 100 years ago

Earth was very close to entering an ice age only 100 years ago due to natural causes. Now we must wait at least 100.000 years for the next ice age. This is shown by work of Andrey Ganopolski from PIK Potsdam. (13 min.)

How much will a doubling of CO2 change Earth temperatures?

How much will temperatures go up, if we double the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere? That has turned out to be a tricky question to answer scientifically. In this podcast, climate scientist Anna von der Heydt explains how initial conditions turn out to be important for getting the right answer: When the Earth system is in a cold state it does not react to a doubling as it does in a warm state. Which state are we in now, then?

 

 

The climate system is noisy like an uncoordinated orchestra

Understanding data from the climate system is like trying to find the melodies in the cacophonic noise of an uncoordinated orchestra- but this is what mathematician and climate scientist Michael Ghil has been working on for decades, improving the equations we use for predicting future climate.