Headline: News 2013

<p>Reacting to the news of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) that the level of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has passed the 400 parts per million mark (relating to the CO₂ particles per million air particles), IASS Scientific Director PD Dr. Mark Lawrence highlights its great symbolic significance, reminding us that we have driven our world into a new epoch – the Anthropocene:</p>

<p>Climate Engineering - the deliberate intervention into the global climate, also known as Geoengineering – has rapidly emerged into scientific, policy and public discussions of climate change over the past few years. In order to support the discourse, the network of high-profile international institutions have launched the platform “<a href="http://geoengineeringourclimate.com/" target="_blank">Geoengineering our climate?</a>”.</p>

<p>In a side event during this week's international discussions at the UN in New York on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the High Seas, <a href="/node/80" target="_blank">Sebastian Unger</a>, Scientific Coordinator of the <a href="/node/43" target="_blank">GCS Cluster </a>at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), presented the outcome and key messages of the workshop “<em>Oceans in the Anthropocene – Advancing Governance of the High Seas</em>”.</p>

<p>Should humans try to control the climate? Climate Engineering (CE), the purposeful intervention into the global climate system, increasingly raises the hope that the effects of climate change could be compensated with the help of technology. However, these methods, even if they are able to affect global mean temperatures quickly and significantly, also involve large uncertainties and risks that are by far not sufficiently explored.  They also raise questions such as: Are people allowed to put their hand on the climate?</p>

<p><img alt="" class="image-iass_large editor_image" height="260" src="/sites/default/files/styles/iass_large/public/inline_images/bm_a.d._anne_schavan_und_w._kraus_bmbf_vor_dem_exponate_des_iass_auf_der_ms_wissenschaft.jpg?itok=dh7KPoKm" width="389" /></p><p> </p>

<p> </p><p>IASS Scientific Director and Nobel Laureate <a href="/node/181" target="_blank">Prof. Carlo Rubbia</a> is this year’s distinguished lecturer for the Heilborn Lectures, an academic event organized annually by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Northwestern University, Chicago.</p>

<p>On the evening of the 16th of April at 6 pm the IASS will be hosting a public panel discussion on Geoengineering, the idea that we can potentially reverse some effects of climate change by artificial means and a research project aiming to produce a robust climate model assessment of this idea.</p>

<p>The IASS is hosting the 3^rd Geoengineering Model Intercomparison project (geoMIP) meeting on the 15^th and 16^th of April. Geoengineering, or Climate engineering (CE), is generally understood as the intentional large-scale modification of the earth system to ameliorate some of the effects of climate change. GeoMIP is a modeling project that is investigating sunlight-reflecting CE schemes using some of the latest generation climate models.</p>

<p><span id="result_box" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span class="hps">Here</span> <span class="hps">you</span> <span class="hps">can find a recording</span> <span class="hps">of the press conference</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">Minister</span> <span class="hps">of Education and Research</span> <span class="hps">Prof.</span> <span class="hps">Johanna Wanka</span> <span class="hps">and the Executive Director</span> <span class="hps">of the</span> <span class="hps">IASS</span> <span class="hps">Prof.</span> <span class="hps">Klaus Töpfer</span> <span class="hps">on</span> <span class="hp&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;"></span></span></p>