Seminar: Axel Kleidon

Sounds weird? Well, it should not, once you understand what entropy is about. Entropy has to do with temperature differences and these limit the ability to do work. That is, to do something useful with energy, like moving mass or transforming matter. And useful energy is at the core of the dynamics of the Earth system, but also of human societies. I use examples from two recently published, popular science books that I co-authored to illustrate how concepts based on entropy can be used to better understand and communicate the impacts of global warming as well as the solution. Because using electricity directly is so much more efficient than combustion-based technologies.