The TiPES Podcast - Tipping points change Earth and climate

Ocean currents will tip mid century

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:00:00 +0200

Huge climate change coming up, if we continue business as usual. The ocean current system, the AMOC, keeps Europe in a relatively mild climate. But the currents show signs of tipping to a dormant state already at mid-century. Peter Ditlevsen, the University of Copenhagen.

Undoing climate tipping

Tue, 16 May 2023 16:01:11 +0200

Ice sheets, ocean current systems, and other slowly reacting climate subsystems can be saved after having crossed their tipping points. Paul Ritchie, University of Exeter, on tipping and temperature overshoot.

Will it tip? Large climate models tested on a past climate

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 14:24:16 +0100

Large, complex climate models previously failed to simulate the frequent, abrupt climate changes of the latest glacial period. However, there is progress in this field. Interview with Louise Sime, The British Antarctic Survey.

How soon will Arctic sea ice melt away every summer?

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 12:44:55 +0200

Louise Sime from the British Antarctic Survey explains findings that have indicated the Arctic could be technically free of sea ice most summers within a couple of decades.

Were abrupt climate changes during Ice Age controlled by CO?

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 13:33:11 +0200

Extreme and sudden warmings during the latest ice age might have been controlled by certain amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. Guido Vettoretti from the University of Copenhagen explains this finding.

Early warnings for tipping of the West Central Greenland ice sheet and Atlantic ocean currents

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 15:28:40 +0100

Two studies this year involving Niklas Boers of the TiPES-project have found early warning signals for tipping of a large ocean current system in the North Atlantic, called the AMOC and the Greenland ice sheet. In this TiPES-podcast Niklas Boers explains the findings.

How the speed of change might tip the climate

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 11:31:37 +0100

In this TiPES-podcast, we try to reach an intuitive understanding of climate tipping - not least rate-induced tipping which is when the speed of climate change tilts the system in an irreversible manner. Our guest is Professor Peter Ashwin from the University of Exeter, UK. Peter Ashwin was one of the discoverers of rate-induced tipping in 2012.

New study: Tipping might be avoided

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 20:00:00 +0200

A study in Science indicates that we should reconsider the idea of irreversible abrupt climate change, known as climate tipping. The climate system is more likely to change in smaller steps that might be reversed if we act quickly enough, the authors argue. Robbin Bastiaansen from the Unversity of Utrecht in The Netherlands explains.

Getting the IPCC to focus more on tipping

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:59:40 +0200

It is important to understand the risk of tipping points under the current climatic situation. To help increase scientific focus on this subject, Thomas Stocker, University of Bern, Switzerland hopes the IPCC will reserve a chapter in the next assessment report to tipping points in the Earth system.

Ocean circulation is crucial to the prediction of climate change

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 11:00:00 +0200

The accuracy of climate predictions depends crucially on how the ocean circulation of the North Atlantic is incorporated into climate models, a study shows. Katinka Bellomo, National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate explains the findings.

Ocean currents might tip before we expect it

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 21:00:00 +0100

We know, that climate tipping could lead to abrupt climate changes. It now turns out, tipping might take place before we would expect it to - due to rate-induced tipping. Johannes Lohmann from Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, The Niels Bohr Institute, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

How we risk losing the Amazon in the next decades

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 12:18:30 +0100

Deforestation and climate change drive the Amazon rainforest towards tipping points. Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Change Impact on the mechanisms that threatens the South American rainforest.

Droughts in the Amazon rainforest can now be predicted

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 10:28:38 +0100

Severe droughts are becoming more frequent in the Amazon rainforest and not only damage the forest but also impact the lives of millions in the area negatively. Niklas Boers from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research explains how it is now possible to forecast these droughts up to 18 months in advance.

Confirmed: Sudden climate changes during ice ages influenced whole planet

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 09:28:47 +0200

It has long been suspected that the repeated abrupt spikes of heating which took place during the ice ages (Dansgaard-Oeschger events) impacted most parts of the world. Now it has been confirmed by data. Sune Olander Rasmussen from the NIels Bohr Institute explains the finding, published today in Science.

On your own on an ice sheet

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:36:04 +0200

In 2015 Sune Olander Rasmussen from the Niels Bohr Institute was left with a small a few colleagues on the ice sheet of Renland in Eastern Greenland. Their job was to point out the best spot to drill ice which could be used for calibrating temperatures in other ice samples.

The urgency of understanding tipping points

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 09:51:20 +0200

We know from the past, that elements in the climate system might pass tipping points after which they enter new states with no return in a foreseeable future. Peter Ditlevsen, the Niels Bohr Institute speaks on the importance of the TiPES project.

Tipping Sahara from desert to green and back

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 15:18:25 +0200

Sahara turned green at the end of the last ice age. Climate sciencists have struggled to model exactly how the transition took place. Professor Paul Valdes from Physical Geography at Bristol University, Great Brittain explains how a detailed understanding is now within reach.

We narrowly missed an ice age 100 years ago

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 14:59:38 +0100

Earth was very close to entering an ice age only 100 years ago due to natural causes. Now we must wait at least 100.000 years for the next ice age. This is shown by work of Andrey Ganopolski from PIK Potsdam. (13 min.)

How much will a doubling of CO2 change Earth temperatures?

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 15:18:25 +0100

How much will temperatures go up, if we double the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere? That has turned out to be a tricky question to answer scientifically. In this podcast, climate scientist Anna von der Heydt explains how initial conditions turn out to be important for getting the right answer: When the Earth system is in a cold state it does not react to a doubling as it does in a warm state. Which state are we in now, then?

The climate system is noisy like an uncoordinated orchestra

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 15:18:02 +0100

Understanding data from the climate system is like trying to find the melodies in the cacophonic noise of an uncoordinated orchestra- but this is what mathematician and climate scientist Michael Ghil has been working on for decades, improving the equations we use for predicting future climate.

Future weather in your part of the world

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 15:17:46 +0100

Climate change is abstract and hard to understand. Rain, drought, storms and flooding make much more sense to the human mind. That is why climate scientist Susanna Corti is working on predicting changes in the future local weather patterns of Europe.