Global experts have unveiled the annual 10 New Insights in Climate Science report. The report equips policymakers with the latest and most pivotal climate science research from the previous 18 months, synthesised to help inform negotiations at COP28 and policy implementation through 2024 and beyond. more

Storing carbon in the soil can help to mitigate climate change. Soil organic matter bound to minerals in particular can store carbon in the long term. A new study shows that the formation of mineral-associated organic matter depends primarily on the type of mineral, but is also influenced by land use and cultivation intensity. more

The international Cabo Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO) is being further expanded: The President of the Republic of Cabo Verde José Maria Neves and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid the foundation stone on Thursday for a new laboratory building on São Vicente, one of the Cape Verde Islands off Africa. The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry was involved in the construction of the station and has since been conducting long-term measurements of the greenhouse gases methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, among others, at the CVAO. more

Vegetation can respond to drought through different mechanisms, including changes in the plants’ structure and physiology. By analyzing state-of-the-art satellite-derived datasets with explainable machine learning methods, an international team around Wantong Li and René Orth showed that the vegetation’s physiology in many ecosystems has deviated from its structure under drought on a global scale. more

Land surface temperatures are shaped mostly by the heating by sunlight, but also by evaporation and convective heat transfer in the vertical. A new study determined the role of these two processes by employing a physical limit. more

A new study shows that the efficiency of microbial carbon use is at least four times more influential than other biological factors or environmental conditions on the global storage and distribution of carbon in soil. more

With a kick-off event on January 12, 2023, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and the German Aerospace Center jointly opened the ELLIS Unit Jena.  Machine learning and artificial intelligence are being used to help address global environmental crises. more