Headline: News

<p>On December 17, 2012, Mark Lawrence participated in the panel “A Looming Environmental Crisis – What can We Do?”, organized by the Federation of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO). The panel debated on what could be a response from a Muslim perspective to the environmental challenges of our time. As external expert, Mark Lawrence provided input on the emerging topic of climate engineering and its risks and uncertainties. He stressed thereby that any environmental crisis is also a social crisis.</p>

<p>Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser, Research Scientist in the SIWA Cluster, gave a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco that was picked up by the BBC. The work focused on the air pollutant, ozone. Despite successful reductions to the primary pollutants that lead to ozone formation across Europe, ozone itself has not shown the same decreasing trends. &nbsp;Read the full BBC article &lsquo;London&rsquo;s clue to stubborn ozone levels&rsquo; <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20563591" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>

<p>Despite variances, a common approach to handling the risks of climate engineering is slowly emerging in Europe. This conclusion was presented by Achim Maas at the conference “Transatlantic Risk Governance: New Security Risks” on December 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).</p>

<p>In December, two new colleagues joined the SIWA cluster, Dr. Galina Churkina and Dr. Axel Lauer. Dr. Churkina, formerly at the Humboldt University, Berlin, joined the group of Dr. Tim Butler to work on urban greening and, particularly, the advantages and disadvantages of reforestation in urban areas. Dr. Lauer will build up a new research group at SIWA focusing on black carbon in the Arctic and the Himalayan Region. More information will be soon available on SIWAs website.</p>

<p><strong>Click </strong><a href="http://climpol.iass-potsdam.de/about/working-group/webinars/science-and-policy-slcps" target="_blank"><strong>here </strong></a><strong>for the recording.</strong></p><p>In Doha on November 30th, Drew Shindell (NASA GISS), Myles Allen (Oxford University), Eduardo Calvo (National University of San Marco) and Adrian Macey (University of Victoria, Wellington) gave an up-to-date synopsis of the science and policy issues surrounding Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) mitigation.</p>