Research News
An elephant seal with a sensor on its head. The sensor measures the animal's position, the depth of the dives, the water temperature and the salinity. Photo: Joachim Ploetz, Alfred Wegener Institute
Further Information:
Northern Germany:
Climate change and coastal protection on the Internet (in German)
Central Europe:
New study shows correlation between summer Arctic sea ice cover and winter weather in Central Europe
Climate Change - The Gulf Stream warms up faster (in German)
Antarctic:
Climate Research News
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Helmholtz centres have published new results from the field of climate research, which we present here in brief: The news range from concrete prognoses for the North German coastline to observations made in the ocean between South Africa and the Antarctic, where elephant seals seem to have to dive down deeper and deeper in order to find food.
North German Coasts
In future, the coastal protected areas in Northern Germany would have to be extended by approximately ten per cent, if they are to effectively protect the population against storm surges. This is the result of analyses conducted at the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht (HZG). The Norddeutsches Klimabüro (Northern German Climate Office) at the HZG now has developed a website providing information regarding the interplay between storm surges, climate change and the need for coastal protection and allowing for the targeted assessment of potential hazards per individual location.
Colder Winters
In future, Central European winters could become significantly colder, as due to climate change the summer minimum Arctic sea ice extent continuously decreases. This has the effect of the air above the Arctic Ocean warming up more in autumn and winter than was the case in previous years. "These increased temperatures can be verified for the Arctic regions", reports Ralf Jaiser from the Alfred Wegener Institute. And this has an effect on the patterns of circulation and barometric pressure, so that cold Arctic air can advance well across Europe.
Gulf Stream Rapidly Warming
The Gulf Stream likewise has changed over the course of the past century. Data and simulations revealed, that ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream, have increased in temperature two to three times faster than the remaining parts of the ocean. "We looked at a total of eight different sets of global observation data regarding temperature and simulated also the ocean currents", explains Prof. Dr Martin Visbeck, co-author of the study conducted at the GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. In order to understand how these processes work and to distinguish climate-related trends from natural fluctuations, long-term observations of the western boundary currents now are required. "Such warming trends have also other long-term consequences, for example, the reduced absorption of carbon dioxide, which in turn further intensifies global warming. Here we need to pay great attention if we want to avoid severe long-term consequences", summarises Visbeck.
Elephant Seals Dive Deeper
Global warming has its effects also on elephant seals living on islands in the southern ocean between South Africa and the Antarctic. Due to the rising temperatures in the oceans, squids and fish seem to have retreated to greater depths, for the elephant seals tend to dive increasingly deeper when hunting for food. This was observed by experts from the AWI in cooperation with South African colleagues. Now, they intend to verify their assumptions with the aid of a new sensor registering the food intake of these animals while they are under water.
