@article{Streck2021, author = {Streck, Charlotte}, title = {Strengthening the Paris Agreement by holding non-state actors accountable}, series = {Transnational environmental law}, volume = {10}, journal = {Transnational environmental law}, number = {3}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {2047-1025}, doi = {10.1017/S2047102521000091}, pages = {493 -- 515}, year = {2021}, abstract = {While the intergovernmental climate regime increasingly recognizes the role of non-state actors in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement (PA), the normative linkages between the intergovernmental climate regime and the non-state dominated 'transnational partnership governance' remain vague and tentative. A formalized engagement of the intergovernmental climate regime with transnational partnerships can increase the effectiveness of partnerships in delivering on climate mitigation and adaptation, thereby complementing rather than replacing government action. The proposed active engagement with partnerships would include (i) collecting and analyzing information to develop and prioritize areas for transnational and partnership engagement; (ii) defining minimum criteria and procedural requirements to be listed on an enhanced Non-state Actor Zone for Climate Action platform; (iii) actively supporting strategic initiatives; (iv) facilitating market or non-market finance as part of Article 6 PA; and (v) evaluating the effectiveness of partnerships in the context of the enhanced transparency framework (Article 13 PA) and the global stocktake (Article 14 PA). The UNFCCC Secretariat could facilitate engagement and problem solving by actively orchestrating transnational partnerships. Constructing effective implementation partnerships, recording their mitigation and adaptation goals, and holding them accountable may help to move climate talks from rhetoric to action.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Thiede2005, author = {Thiede, Rasmus Christoph}, title = {Tectonic and climatic controls on orogenic processes : the Northwest Himalaya, India}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-2281}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2005}, abstract = {The role of feedback between erosional unloading and tectonics controlling the development of the Himalaya is a matter of current debate. The distribution of precipitation is thought to control surface erosion, which in turn results in tectonic exhumation as an isostatic compensation process. Alternatively, subsurface structures can have significant influence in the evolution of this actively growing orogen. Along the southern Himalayan front new 40Ar/39Ar white mica and apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronologic data provide the opportunity to determine the history of rock-uplift and exhumation paths along an approximately 120-km-wide NE-SW transect spanning the greater Sutlej region of the northwest Himalaya, India. 40Ar/39Ar data indicate, consistent with earlier studies that first the High Himalayan Crystalline, and subsequently the Lesser Himalayan Crystalline nappes were exhumed rapidly during Miocene time, while the deformation front propagated to the south. In contrast, new AFT data delineate synchronous exhumation of an elliptically shaped, NE-SW-oriented ~80 x 40 km region spanning both crystalline nappes during Pliocene-Quaternary time. The AFT ages correlate with elevation, but show within the resolution of the method no spatial relationship to preexisting major tectonic structures, such as the Main Central Thrust or the Southern Tibetan Fault System. Assuming constant exhumation rates and geothermal gradient, the rocks of two age vs. elevation transects were exhumed at ~1.4 \&\#177;0.2 and ~1.1 \&\#177;0.4 mm/a with an average cooling rate of ~50-60 \&\#176;C/Ma during Pliocene-Quaternary time. The locus of pronounced exhumation defined by the AFT data coincides with a region of enhanced precipitation, high discharge, and sediment flux rates under present conditions. We therefore hypothesize that the distribution of AFT cooling ages might reflect the efficiency of surface processes and fluvial erosion, and thus demonstrate the influence of erosion in localizing rock-uplift and exhumation along southern Himalayan front, rather than encompassing the entire orogen.Despite a possible feedback between erosion and exhumation along the southern Himalayan front, we observe tectonically driven, crustal exhumation within the arid region behind the orographic barrier of the High Himalaya, which might be related to and driven by internal plateau forces. Several metamorphic-igneous gneiss dome complexes have been exhumed between the High Himalaya to the south and Indus-Tsangpo suture zone to the north since the onset of Indian-Eurasian collision ~50 Ma ago. Although the overall tectonic setting is characterized by convergence the exhumation of these domes is accommodated by extensional fault systems.Along the Indian-Tibetan border the poorly described Leo Pargil metamorphic-igneous gneiss dome (31-34\&\#176;N/77-78\&\#176;E) is located within the Tethyan Himalaya. New field mapping, structural, and geochronologic data document that the western flank of the Leo Pargil dome was formed by extension along temporally linked normal fault systems. Motion on a major detachment system, referred to as the Leo Pargil detachment zone (LPDZ) has led to the juxtaposition of low-grade metamorphic, sedimentary rocks in the hanging wall and high-grade metamorphic gneisses in the footwall. However, the distribution of new 40Ar/39Ar white mica data indicate a regional cooling event during middle Miocene time. New apatite fission track (AFT) data demonstrate that subsequently more of the footwall was extruded along the LPDZ in a brittle stage between 10 and 2 Ma with a minimum displacement of ~9 km. Additionally, AFT-data indicate a regional accelerated cooling and exhumation episode starting at ~4 Ma. Thus, tectonic processes can affect the entire orogenic system, while potential feedbacks between erosion and tectonics appear to be limited to the windward sides of an orogenic systems.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Totz2018, author = {Totz, Sonja Juliana}, title = {Modeling and data analysis of large-scale atmosphere dynamics associated with extreme weather}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xii, 166}, year = {2018}, abstract = {In the last decades the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like heat waves and heavy rainfall have increased and are at least partly linked to global warming. These events can have a strong impact on agricultural and economic production and, thereby, on society. Thus, it is important to improve our understanding of the physical processes leading to those extreme events in order to provide accurate near-term and long-term forecasts. Thermodynamic drivers associated with global warming are well understood, but dynamical aspects of the atmosphere much less so. The dynamical aspects, while less important than the thermodynamic drivers in regards to large-scale and long-time averaged effects, play a critical role in the formation of extremes. The overall aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding of patterns, variability and trends in the global atmospheric circulation under a changing climate. In particular, in this dissertation I developed two new data-driven methods to quantitatively describe the dynamics of jet streams, Hadley cells and storm tracks. In addition, I introduce and validate a new statistical-dynamical atmosphere model that can be used to efficiently model the large-scale circulation. First, I developed a scheme based on the Dijkstra 'shortest-path' algorithm to identify jet stream cores. Using reanalysis data, I found a significant change in jet stream strength and position over the last decades: Specifically, a decrease in wind speeds and a spatial shift toward the poles. This work also shows that the splitting or merging of the polar front jet stream and the subtropical jet stream depends on the season and longitudinal position. In a follow-up study, I analyzed trends in the latitudinal position of the poleward edge of the Hadley cell and subtropical jet stream core for all longitudes. These trends depend strongly on longitude and thus the impacts of tropical expansion might be pronounced in some regions and absent in others. The second approach was to develop an empirical forecast method for European and Mediterranean winter precipitation. This prediction algorithm innovatively incorporates the spatial patterns of predictors in autumn using clustering analyses. I identified the most important precursors (snow cover in Eurasia, Barents and Kara sea ice concentrations as well as sea surface temperature in the Atlantic and Mediterranean region) for the precipitation prediction. This forecast algorithm had higher forecast skills than conventionally employed methods such as Canonical Correlation Analysis or operational systems using climate models. The last approach was to examine the atmospheric circulation using the novel statisticaldynamical atmosphere model Aeolus. First, I validated the model's depiction of the largescale circulation in terms of Hadley circulation, jet streams, storm tracks and planetary waves. To do so, I performed a parameter optimization using simulated annealing. Next, I investigated the sensitivity of the large-scale circulation to three different temperature components: global mean temperature, meridional temperature gradient and zonal temperature gradient. The model experiment showed that the strength of the Hadley cell, storm tracks and jet streams depend almost linearly on both the global mean temperature and the meridional temperature gradient, whereas the zonal temperature gradient is shown to have little or no influence. The magnitude of planetary waves is clearly affected by all three temperature components. Finally, the width of the Hadley cell behaves nonlinearly with respect to all three temperature components. These findings might have profound consequences for climate modeling of the Mediterranean region. The latitudinal poleward trend of the Hadley cell edge position might become stronger under climate change according to the results with Aeolus. These changes would lead to a substantial reduction of the winter precipitation in the Mediterranean region. In this case seasonal empirical forecast methods, like the clustering-based prediction scheme, will play an important role for forecasting seasonal droughts in advance such that water managers and politicians can mitigate impacts.}, language = {en} } @article{Ungelenk2020, author = {Ungelenk, Johannes}, title = {{\´E}mile Zola's Climate History of the Second Empire}, series = {Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment}, volume = {11}, journal = {Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment}, number = {1}, publisher = {Alcal{\´a} de Henares}, address = {Instituto Universitario de Investigaci{\´o}n en Estudios Norteamericanos "Benjam{\´i}n Franklin", Universidad de Alcal{\´a}}, issn = {2171-9594}, doi = {10.37536/ECOZONA.2020.11.1.3181}, pages = {9 -- 26}, year = {2020}, abstract = {This article looks at {\´E}mile Zola's novel cycle Les Rougon-Macquart and argues that it describes its subject, the Second Empire, as a warming climate tending toward climate catastrophe. Zola's affinity to the notion of climate is shown to be linked to his poetic employment of the concept of 'milieu', inspired by Hippolyte Taine. Close readings of selected passages from the Rougon-Macquart are used to work out the climatic difference between 'the old' and 'the new Paris', and the process of warming that characterises the Second Empire. Octave Mouret's department store holds a special place in the article, as it is analysed through what the article suggests calling a 'meteorotopos': a location of intensified climatic conditions that accounts for an increased interaction between human and non-human actors. The department store is also one of the many sites in the novel cycle that locally prefigure the 'global' climate catastrophe of Paris burning, in which the Second Empire perishes.}, language = {en} } @article{WeithoffGaedke2017, author = {Weithoff, Guntram and Gaedke, Ursula}, title = {Mean functional traits of lake phytoplankton reflect seasonal and inter-annual changes in nutrients, climate and herbivory}, series = {Journal of plankton research}, volume = {39}, journal = {Journal of plankton research}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0142-7873}, doi = {10.1093/plankt/fbw072}, pages = {509 -- 517}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Trait-based approaches have become increasingly successful in community ecology. They assume that the distribution of functional traits within communities responds in a predictable way to alterations in environmental forcing and that strong forcing may accelerate such trait changes. We used high frequency measurements of phytoplankton to test these assumptions. We analyzed the seasonal and long-term dynamics of the community trait mean within a multi-dimensional trait space under alternating multifactorial environmental conditions. The community trait mean exhibited a distinct recurrent annual pattern that reflected minor changes in climate, herbivory and nutrients. Independent of early spring conditions, the community trait mean was repeatedly driven into a narrow confined area in the trait space under pronounced herbivory during the clear water phase. The speed of movement was highest at the onset and the relaxation of such strong unidirectional forcing. Thus, our data support the conceptual framework of trait-based ecology that alterations in environmental conditions are systematically tracked by adjustments in the dominant functional trait values and that the speed of trait changes depends on the kind and intensity of the selection pressure. Our approach provides a sensitive tool to detect small functional differences in the community related to subtle differences in forcing.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zapata2019, author = {Zapata, Sebastian Henao}, title = {Paleozoic to Pliocene evolution of the Andean retroarc between 26 and 28°S: interactions between tectonics, climate, and upper plate architecture}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43903}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-439036}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {139}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Interactions and feedbacks between tectonics, climate, and upper plate architecture control basin geometry, relief, and depositional systems. The Andes is part of a longlived continental margin characterized by multiple tectonic cycles which have strongly modified the Andean upper plate architecture. In the Andean retroarc, spatiotemporal variations in the structure of the upper plate and tectonic regimes have resulted in marked along-strike variations in basin geometry, stratigraphy, deformational style, and mountain belt morphology. These along-strike variations include high-elevation plateaus (Altiplano and Puna) associated with a thin-skin fold-and-thrust-belt and thick-skin deformation in broken foreland basins such as the Santa Barbara system and the Sierras Pampeanas. At the confluence of the Puna Plateau, the Santa Barbara system and the Sierras Pampeanas, major along-strike changes in upper plate architecture, mountain belt morphology, basement exhumation, and deformation style can be recognized. I have used a source to sink approach to unravel the spatiotemporal tectonic evolution of the Andean retroarc between 26 and 28°S. I obtained a large low-temperature thermochronology data set from basement units which includes apatite fission track, apatite U-Th-Sm/He, and zircon U-Th/He (ZHe) cooling ages. Stratigraphic descriptions of Miocene units were temporally constrained by U-Pb LA-ICP-MS zircon ages from interbedded pyroclastic material. Modeled ZHe ages suggest that the basement of the study area was exhumed during the Famatinian orogeny (550-450 Ma), followed by a period of relative tectonic quiescence during the Paleozoic and the Triassic. The basement experienced horst exhumation during the Cretaceous development of the Salta rift. After initial exhumation, deposition of thick Cretaceous syn-rift strata caused reheating of several basement blocks within the Santa Barbara system. During the Eocene-Oligocene, the Andean compressional setting was responsible for the exhumation of several disconnected basement blocks. These exhumed blocks were separated by areas of low relief, in which humid climate and low erosion rates facilitated the development of etchplains on the crystalline basement. The exhumed basement blocks formed an Eocene to Oligocene broken foreland basin in the back-bulge depozone of the Andean foreland. During the Early Miocene, foreland basin strata filled up the preexisting Paleogene topography. The basement blocks in lower relief positions were reheated; associated geothermal gradients were higher than 25°C/km. Miocene volcanism was responsible for lateral variations on the amount of reheating along the Campo-Arenal basin. Around 12 Ma, a new deformational phase modified the drainage network and fragmented the lacustrine system. As deformation and rock uplift continued, the easily eroded sedimentary cover was efficiently removed and reworked by an ephemeral fluvial system, preventing the development of significant relief. After ~6 Ma, the low erodibility of the basement blocks which began to be exposed caused relief increase, leading to the development of stable fluvial systems. Progressive relief development modified atmospheric circulation, creating a rainfall gradient. After 3 Ma, orographic rainfall and high relief lead to the development of proximal fluvial-gravitational depositional systems in the surrounding basins.}, language = {en} } @misc{ZimmermannRaschkeEppetal.2017, author = {Zimmermann, Heike Hildegard and Raschke, Elena and Epp, Laura Saskia and Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie and Schwamborn, Georg and Schirrmeister, Lutz and Overduin, Pier Paul and Herzschuh, Ulrike}, title = {Sedimentary ancient DNA and pollen reveal the composition of plant organic matter in Late Quaternary permafrost sediments of the Buor Khaya Peninsula (north-eastern Siberia)}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {670}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-41713}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-417130}, pages = {22}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Organic matter deposited in ancient, ice-rich permafrost sediments is vulnerable to climate change and may contribute to the future release of greenhouse gases; it is thus important to get a better characterization of the plant organic matter within such sediments. From a Late Quaternary permafrost sediment core from the Buor Khaya Peninsula, we analysed plant-derived sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) to identify the taxonomic composition of plant organic matter, and undertook palynological analysis to assess the environmental conditions during deposition. Using sedaDNA, we identified 154 taxa and from pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs we identified 83 taxa. In the deposits dated between 54 and 51 kyr BP, sedaDNA records a diverse low-centred polygon plant community including recurring aquatic pond vegetation while from the pollen record we infer terrestrial open-land vegetation with relatively dry environmental conditions at a regional scale. A fluctuating dominance of either terrestrial or swamp and aquatic taxa in both proxies allowed the local hydrological development of the polygon to be traced. In deposits dated between 11.4 and 9.7 kyr BP (13.4-11.1 cal kyr BP), sedaDNA shows a taxonomic turnover to moist shrub tundra and a lower taxonomic richness compared to the older samples. Pollen also records a shrub tundra community, mostly seen as changes in relative proportions of the most dominant taxa, while a decrease in taxonomic richness was less pronounced compared to sedaDNA. Our results show the advantages of using sedaDNA in combination with palynological analyses when macrofossils are rarely preserved. The high resolution of the sedaDNA record provides a detailed picture of the taxonomic composition of plant-derived organic matter throughout the core, and palynological analyses prove valuable by allowing for inferences of regional environmental conditions.}, language = {en} } @book{OPUS4-5773, title = {Klimapolitik International}, editor = {Kleinw{\"a}chter, Kai}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-173-8}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-58354}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {100}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Der Klimawandel birgt globale Risiken. Dies ist weithin anerkannt. Umstritten ist die Frage, wie diesen Gefahren zu begegnen ist. 14 Jahre nach Kyoto ist klar: Klimapolitik ist Interessenpolitik. Das zeigte zuletzt die UN-Klimakonferenz 2011 in Durban mit ihren unverbindlichen Ergebnissen. In diesem Sammelband analysieren Experten Ursachen f{\"u}r das Scheitern der vergangenen Klima-Konferenzen und Konsequenzen f{\"u}r die k{\"u}nftige Klimapolitik. Insbesondere geht es um die Politik der Akteure China und Indien, um die Rolle der NGOs und die Klimafrage in der Entwicklungspolitik. Zugleich wird die deutsche Klimapolitik diskutiert und die Politik Brandenburgs von der verantwortlichen Ministerin vorgestellt.}, language = {de} }