Today, we know and understand much better how the Earth's complex climate system works. We can understand what natural fluctuations in the climate system are based on and prove what part humans play in global warming.
Nevertheless, there are still gaps in climate research: Important data are lacking, especially from deeper ocean layers and polar regions, which can be used to explain long-term climatic fluctuations and developments. The oceans in particular, which cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface, play a crucial role. Since the Industrial Revolution, they have absorbed 30 percent of man-made carbon dioxide and 90 percent of the heat generated by rising greenhouse gases.
It is already clear that human-induced climate change is noticeably altering the oceans: They are getting warmer and more acidic. Climate change is shifting the balance of ice sheets and glaciers because, for example, melting ice masses are causing sea levels to rise and changing ocean currents. Helmholtz researchers therefore want to elucidate the mechanisms by which the oceans and cryosphere react to global warming and how they influence the climate - from the past to the present and into the future. The term cryosphere covers all areas of the Earth where water occurs in the form of ice or snow - i.e. sea ice, snow, glacier ice and permafrost.
We investigate how climate change affects temperature distribution, carbon storage and nutrient cycles in the oceans and the extent of sea ice. To this end, we use, for example, data from the Arctic collected by the research vessel "Polarstern" on the MOSAiC expedition. Together with our national and international partners, we are investigating how climatically relevant current systems in the Atlantic change and what the consequences are of water rising from deeper layers into the water layer near the surface. This in turn affects the distribution of phytoplankton and ultimately the fisheries and food supply of the local population off the northwestern coast of Africa. In 2027, we are planning a U.S.-German satellite mission to study the effects of global warming on the oceans and ice with even greater precision. Our scientific findings will then be incorporated into the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this way, we support national and international political actors with sound scientific facts in their decision-making.
