Program

Vision

With the program “Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future" we will lay the path towards a future Earth that can sustain human society and the biosphere as a whole.

Mission

• Gain a holistic understanding of the changing Earth system, the dynamics, feedbacks and interactions of its compartments.

• Provide actionable knowledge that can be used for a transformation towards a sustainable management of planet Earth.

Grand Challenges

The Program will conduct solution-oriented, systemic research within the context of five overarching grand challenges:

• climate change with an emphasis on the drivers as well as the impacts it will have on natural and human systems, including regional manifestations and extreme events,

• risks for human habitats and activities arising from Solid Earth dynamics,

• threatened ecosystems, biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles as foundations of vital ecosystem services,

• dwindling natural resources as the limiting factor for societal development globally,

• the need to preserve or achieve a good quality of the human environment with an emphasis on air quality, reduced pollutants exposure and livable, sustainable cities.

The Program Objectives

The Program Objectives constitute the scientific mission of the program and serve both to integrate our scientific activities and as a measuring stick for their impact with regard to societal benefits.

In their entirety, these objectives set out to lay the path towards a future Earth that can sustain human society and the biosphere as a whole.

Half way of PoF IV, the Program Board revised and described the Program Objectives now in detail, accounting for first program experience and our changing world (to avoid confusion with the original PO numbering scheme, these revised objec?ves have an "R" before their number, thus are labelled POR).

To improve predictive skills of weather, climate, atmospheric composition, and seasonal extremes through advanced modelling, observational capabilities, and data science, at all scales from global to local (e.g., urban), to better inform emergency measures and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
To enable and enhance climate resilient development of our society to a net-zero lifestyle and to cope with challenges but also chances due to climate change, we will develop and deliver pathways, storylines and instruments, such as digital twins and toolboxes.
While atmospheric hazards may be increasing as a result of environmental change, solid earth hazards are potentially staying constant but their impact is increasing as society becomes more vulnerable to disruption. This objective aims to improve our assessment of risk from solid-earth and environmental hazards and so help to inform and improve risk management.
To co-develop solutions that help mitigate urban risks and increase the adaptive capacities and resilience of urban areas, encompassing research that i) enables urban spaces to cope with multi-hazards and climate risks, ii) provides healthy environments for their inhabitants, and iii) develops novel technological and system solutions for urban management.
To synthesize data, models and theory of biodiversity change and the consequences for ecosystem function and services. The main common target is to explore, derive and design solutions for sustainable use of marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.
To develop and apply coherent concepts for understanding and assessing the interaction between environmental pollution and human and ecological health. We apply this strategy across disciplines to overcome current fragmented ‘silo’ approaches and provide options for solution-oriented chemical management strategies to ultimately support sustainable chemical use in a non-toxic environment.

Program Structure

Nine research Topics and their project-type Subtopics form the structural backbone of the Program. Topics are designed for high thematic coherence, communicable missions, multidisciplinarity and complementarity across centers.

Cross-Cutting Activities build the bridge to other Research Fields and promote thematic profiling and networking between Topics.

The research data management is consolidated in the DataHub which provides: overarching data portal, digitalization for scientific workflows including data flows, thematic viewers for different stake-holders, support of science-to-science networks.

Innopool projects serve to strengthen the cooperation between the centers by funding of new innovative ideas in 3-year projects .

SynCom is designed as an overarching synthesis and communication platform for the Earth and Environment Research Field where scientists study our planet comprehensively within nine Topics.

Seven large User FacilitiesInfrastructures are operated under the responsibility of AWI, GEOMAR and GFZ of: research stations, aircraft, research vessels, and a Modular Earth Science Infrastructure (MESI).

Recent Highlights

Feedbacks in the land-ocean transition

Influence of erosion on the oceanic CO2 storage capacity

Alkalinity generation from rock weathering modulates Earth’s climate at geological time scales. Particularly challenging remains the discrimination of climatic and erosional influences. Based on global observations, here we uncover the role of erosion rate in governing riverine alkalinity, accompanied by areal proportion of carbonate, mean annual temperature, catchment area, and soil regolith thickness. We show that the weathering flux to the ocean will be significantly altered by climate warming as early as 2100, by up to 68% depending on the environmental conditions, constituting a sudden feedback of ocean CO2 sequestration to climate.

Detection of an 8-month preparatory phase of the 2023 Turkey earthquake

Atmospheric emissions and observed reactions of megacities to maritime areas

Fault roughness controls injection-induced seismicity

06.-08. December 2023

Topic 7 Fall Meeting

Heat extremes in soil are increasing faster than in air over Central Europe

General Assembly 2023 - in Karlsruhe (15.-16. May)

The research program "Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future" convened its annual General Assembly in Karlsruhe on May 15th and 16th, 2023. Over 300 participants discussed the progress of the collaborative research program, the further development of the Program Objectives, as well as new cross-cutting thematic and research activities. The successful event provided insights into the current program activities and also offered numerous participatory formats such as an ideas market, breakout groups, and dynamic poster sessions, making it an excellent opportunity for networking and actively shaping the shared program. One focus of this year's general assembly was a broad involvement of early career researchers. Additionally, individual members of the Strategic Advisory Board attended the second day of the event.

Program „Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future”

POR 1: Weather and climate – Improve predictive skills

POR 2: Climate mitigation and adaptation – Better cope with environmental changes

POR 3: Solid earth and hydrometeorological hazards – Enhanced impact assessment in a modern world

POR 4: Urban Risk – Increase urban quality of life and resilience

POR 5: Ecosystems – Sustain services and biodiversity

POR 6: Food, feed and water – Ensure availability for a growing population

POR 7: Circular economy – Enable more sustainable use of bio- and georesources

POR 8: Environmental pollution – Protecting the environment and humans from chemical pollution