Plankton as a climate driver instead of the sun?

22 May 2019 / Kiel. Fluctuations in the orbital parameters of the Earth are considered to be the trigger for long-term climatic fluctuations such as ice ages. This includes the variation of the inclination angle of the Earth's axis with a cycle of about 40,000 years. Kiel-based marine scientists lea...

Buoy collecting atmospheric and ocean data in the tropical Pacific. Photo: NOAA/PMEL.

Tropical Pacific variability key for successful climate forecasts

21.05.2019 / Kiel. The warming of the Earth by the human-caused greenhouse effect is progressing. But predictions for the next decades still show relatively large uncertainties. A German-Australian research team headed by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel identified the large natural v...

The research vessel SONNE in front of Ritter Island during the expedition SO252 in autumn 2016. Photo: Christian Berndt/GEOMAR

Precursors of a Catastrophic Collapse

16 May 2019 / Kiel. The flanks of many island volcanoes such as Mount Etna or Mount Kilauea slide very slowly towards the sea. Whether these landslides are forewarnings of a catastrophic collapse or, on the contrary, even reduce its risk, is not yet understood. Geophysicists from the GEOMAR Helmholt...

The research vessel POSEIDON (foreground) and the British research vessel RRS JAMES COOK (background) at the Goldeneye gas production platform off Scotland during the current release experiment. Photo: Peter Linke/GEOMAR

Impact of CO2 leakage through North Sea wells

14.05.2019 / Kiel. Realistic estimates show that global warming can only be kept below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius if carbon dioxide is actively removed from the atmosphere. Storage beneath the seafloor is an option that has been investigated intensively by an international team of scientists led by th...