Minz, J.; Kleidon, A.; Mbungu, N. T.: Estimating the technical wind energy potential of Kansas that incorporates the effect of regional wind resource depletion by wind turbines. Wind Energy Science 9 (11), S. 2147 - 2169 (2024)
Agora Energiewende; Agora Verkehrswende; Technical University of Denmark; Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry: Making the most of offshore wind: Re-evaluating the potential of offshore wind in the German North Sea. (2020)
International researchers found a pattern of extreme climate conditions leading to forest dieback. To do this, the team had collected worldwide records of climate-related tree and forest dieback events over the past nearly five decades. The results, recently published in Nature Communications, reveal an ominous scenario for forests in the context of ongoing global warming.
International forest experts analyzed major tree and forest dieback events that occurred globally in the last decades in response to climate extremes. To their surprise many forests were strongly affected that were not considered threatened based on current scientific understanding. The study, led by the MPI-BGC and published in Annual Reviews in Plant Biology, underscores also that further tree and forest dieback is likely to occur.
Precisely how does a forest system and the individual plants within it react to extreme drought? Understanding the processes involved is crucial to making forests more resilient in the increasingly dry climate that will result from climate change, and also important for refining climate models. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Christiane Werner from the University of Freiburg has conducted the most extensive experiment to date into this subject using stable isotopes to trace flows of water and carbon through a forest.
Sebastian Sippel, former PhD student and now postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, is awarded the Bernd Rendel Prize 2017 for junior geoscientists. The award ceremony will take place on September 25, 2017 during the general meeting of the German Geological Society in Bremen.
To monitor among other things extreme weather conditions, sea level modifications, changes in the ecosystems and coastal erosion the Integrated Arctic Observation System (INTAROS) has been launched on January 10-12, 2017 in Bergen, Norway, gathering 110 polar scientists. Among them were Prof. Martin Heiman, director, and Mathias Goeckede, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry.
Gerd Gleixner, research group leader at Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, receives the Thuringian Research Award in the field of fundamental research. In his project “Biodiversity protects the climate”, the scientist showed the importance of soil microorganisms in connection with climate protection: when species richness is abundant, the soil is increasingly able to store carbon and nitrogen. Ecosystems with high biodiversity are much more resistant against perturbations such as drought and pests.
Climatic extremes are likely to increase in the future and will affect ecosystem functions and services. The project Extreme Events and Environments from climate to Society (E3S) is one of eight newly launched Future Earth initiatives to support global sustainable development. The project is scientifically coordinated and managed at our institute.
The past year is both in Germany and globally one of the warmest or even the warmest year since 1881, the beginning of comprehensive temperature recordings.
Based on his research on the reaction of ecosystems and their carbon and water cycles on climate change, M. Reichstein was nominated by Thuringian STIFT and ministries for the award.
The project EMBRACE intends to improve the leading Earth System Models in order to allow more reliable projections of future global change processes. MPI-BGC is one of the 18 European partner institutions collaborating in this EU funded project.