The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has announced the names of the researchers appointed to co-author the UN “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate” (SROCC), which is to be published in 2019. Out of the 569 nominations put forward by 57 member states, the UN has selected the 101 experts who will work on the report: Among them are Professor Ben Marzeion and Professor Monika Rhein from the University of Bremen. Professor Hans-Otto Pörtner, from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), also a professor of the University of Bremen, is to co-chair the IPCC’s Working Group II.
The Special Report will shed light on factors threatening the oceans and cryosphere as well as their crucial importance as vital components of the Earth’s environment and climate system. This includes aspects such as climate change, rising sea levels, and the oceans as a source of food. Oceans and the cryosphere, i.e. areas of frozen-water on the planet, account for the largest part of the Earth’s surface area. The changes they are undergoing have a correspondingly major impact on humanity. The Special Report, which will be published in 2019, is therefore highly relevant for political decisions and policymaking.
Bremen expertise much in demand
Ben Marzeion was appointed to a professorship in the Institute of Geography at the University of Bremen in September 2015. Following studies in Oceanography in Kiel, Germany, and the award of his doctorate by the University of Bergen in Norway, his main research interest has been the influence of glacier melt on changes in regional sea levels. His work focuses on the interactions between humans and the environment, such as the repercussions of glacier melt on the availability of water in mountain regions. Marzeion is lead author of the chapter “Rising Sea Levels and Consequences for Islands and Coastal Areas”. The lead authors of the Report work with teams capable of providing the best available scientific, technical and socio-economic information.
Professor Monika Rhein leads the Working Group Oceanography in the University of Bremen’s Institute of Environmental Physics. The physicist obtained her doctorate in Heidelberg and submitted her post-doctoral dissertation at the University of Kiel. In 2000, she received a professorial appointment at the University of Bremen. She researches climate-relevant processes in the ocean, which also encompasses Golf Steam circulation. Rhein is Deputy Speaker for the Collaborative Research Center/TRR 181 “Energy Transfers in Atmosphere and Ocean” and lead scientist of the Collaborative Project RACE (Regional Ocean Circulation and Global Change), supported by the German Ministry for Science and Research. She is also Deputy Speaker of the National Committee SCAR/IASC of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). In 2013, Prof. Rhein was already involved as lead author of the IPCC’s Fifth World Climate Report. Her present role in the Special Report is that of Review Editor. She participates in the selection of the scientific experts and ensures their contributions are appropriately dealt with and taken into due account in the Report. In addition to this, she assists the lead authors in ensuring that controversial views also receive adequate attention.
Biologist and climate researcher Professor Hans-Otto Pörtner from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is Co-Chairman of the IPCC’s Working Group II since 2015. Together with Debra Roberts from South Africa, he leads the Working Group, which is concerned with the risks and consequences of climate change as well as possibilities for adaptation. Hans-Otto Pörtner is a biologist with extensive expertise in the area of climate and the physiology of marine life. He leads the Section “Integrative Ecophysiology” at the Alfred Wegener Institute, and since 2005 he holds a professorship on the adaptation strategies of marine organisms at the University of Bremen. As result of his activities as main lead author of the Fourth and Fifth IPCC Reports, Hans-Otto Pörtner has in-depth experience of the work conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Feel free to contact any of the following for further information:
University of Bremen
Institute of Geography and MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
Prof.Dr. Ben Marzeion
Phone: +49 421 218-67170
email: ben.marzeionprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
University of Bremen
Institute for Environmental Physics and MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
Prof.Dr. Monika Rhein
Phone: +49 421 218-62160
email: mrheinprotect me ?!physik.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
www.ocean.uni-bremen.de
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Prof.Dr. Hans-Otto Pörtner
Phone: +49 471 4831-1307
email: Hans.Poertnerprotect me ?!awiprotect me ?!.de
