TY - THES A1 - Bittermann, Klaus T1 - Semi-empirical sea-level modelling T1 - Semiempirische Meeresspiegelmodellierung N2 - Semi-empirical sea-level models (SEMs) exploit physically motivated empirical relationships between global sea level and certain drivers, in the following global mean temperature. This model class evolved as a supplement to process-based models (Rahmstorf (2007)) which were unable to fully represent all relevant processes. They thus failed to capture past sea-level change (Rahmstorf et al. (2012)) and were thought likely to underestimate future sea-level rise. Semi-empirical models were found to be a fast and useful tool for exploring the uncertainties in future sea-level rise, consistently giving significantly higher projections than process-based models. In the following different aspects of semi-empirical sea-level modelling have been studied. Models were first validated using various data sets of global sea level and temperature. SEMs were then used on the glacier contribution to sea level, and to infer past global temperature from sea-level data via inverse modelling. Periods studied encompass the instrumental period, covered by tide gauges (starting 1700 CE (Common Era) in Amsterdam) and satellites (first launched in 1992 CE), the era from 1000 BCE (before CE) to present, and the full length of the Holocene (using proxy data). Accordingly different data, model formulations and implementations have been used. It could be shown in Bittermann et al. (2013) that SEMs correctly predict 20th century sea-level when calibrated with data until 1900 CE. SEMs also turned out to give better predictions than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th assessment report (AR4, IPCC (2007)) models, for the period from 1961–2003 CE. With the first multi-proxy reconstruction of global sea-level as input, estimate of the human-induced component of modern sea-level change and projections of future sea-level rise were calculated (Kopp et al. (2016)). It turned out with 90% confidence that more than 40 % of the observed 20th century sea-level rise is indeed anthropogenic. With the new semi-empirical and IPCC (2013) 5th assessment report (AR5) projections the gap between SEM and process-based model projections closes, giving higher credibility to both. Combining all scenarios, from strong mitigation to business as usual, a global sea-level rise of 28–131 cm relative to 2000 CE, is projected with 90% confidence. The decision for a low carbon pathway could halve the expected global sea-level rise by 2100 CE. Present day temperature and thus sea level are driven by the globally acting greenhouse-gas forcing. Unlike that, the Milankovich forcing, acting on Holocene timescales, results mainly in a northern-hemisphere temperature change. Therefore a semi-empirical model can be driven with northernhemisphere temperatures, which makes it possible to model the main subcomponent of sea-level change over this period. It showed that an additional positive constant rate of the order of the estimated Antarctic sea-level contribution is then required to explain the sea-level evolution over the Holocene. Thus the global sea level, following the climatic optimum, can be interpreted as the sum of a temperature induced sea-level drop and a positive long-term contribution, likely an ongoing response to deglaciation coming from Antarctica. N2 - Semiempirische Meeresspiegelmodelle (SEMe) nutzen die physikalisch motivierte, empirische Beziehung des globalen Meeresspiegels zu einem bestimmten Antrieb. Im Folgenden ist das die mittlere globale Temperatur. Diese Modellklasse entstand als Ergänzung zu prozeßbasierten Modellen, die nicht alle relevanten Prozesse abbilden konnten (Rahmstorf (2007)) und die deshalb weder den beobachteten Meeresspiegel erklären konnten (Rahmstorf et al. (2012)) noch vertrauenswürdige Zukunftsprojektionen lieferten. Semiempirische Modelle sind eine gute und schnelle Option, die Unsicherheit im zukünftigen Meeresspiegelanstieg auszuloten, wobei sie konsistent höhere Zukunftsprojektionen lieferten als prozeßbasierte Modelle. Im Folgenden wurden verschiedene Aspekte der semiempirischen Meeresspiegelmodellierung untersucht. Modelle wurden erst mit verschiedenen globalen Temperatur- und Meeresspiegeldatensätzen validiert. SEMe wurden dann auf den Meeresspiegelbeitrag von Gletschern angewandt und genutzt, um die globale Temperatur aus Meeresspiegeldaten abzuleiten. Die untersuchten Zeiträume variieren zwischen dem instrumentellen Abschnitt mit Pegelstandsmessungen (seit dem Jahr 1700 in Amsterdam) und Satellitendaten (seit 1992), dem Zeitraum seit 1000 vor Christus und dem gesamten Holozän (mittels Proxydaten). Entsprechend wurden verschiedene Daten, Modellformulierungen und -implementationen benutzt. Es konnte in Bittermann et al. (2013) gezeigt werden, dass SEMe den beobachteten Meeresspiegel des 20sten Jahrhunderts korrekt vorhersagen können, wenn sie bis zum Jahr 1900 kalibriert wurden. Auch für den Zeitraum 1961 bis 2003 lieferten SEMe bessere Vorhersagen als der vierte Sachstandsbericht des Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR4, IPCC (2007)). Mit der ersten globalen multi-proxy Rekonstruktion des globalen Meeresspiegels als Input konnten sowohl der anthropogene Anteil des modernen Meeresspiegelanstiegs als auch Zukunftsprojektionen berechnet werden (Kopp et al. (2016)). Es zeigt sich mit 90% Sicherheit, dass mehr als 40 % des beobachteten Meeresspiegelanstiegs im 20sten Jahrhundert anthropogenen Ursprungs sind. Mit den neuen semiempirischen Zukunftsprojektionen und denen des fünften Sachstandsberichtes (AR5) des IPCC (2013) läßt sich die Kluft zwischen SEMen und prozeßbasierten Modellen schließen, was beide vertrauenswürdiger macht. Über alle Szenarien hinweg, von starker Treibhausgaseinsparung bis zum ungebremsten Ausstoß, ergibt sich, mit 90% Sicherheit, zwischen 2000 und 2100 ein Meeresspiegelanstieg von 28 bis 131 cm. Die Entscheidung starker Treibhausgaseinsparungen kann den erwarteten globalen Meeresspiegelanstieg im Jahr 2100 halbieren. Die gegenwärtige globale Temperatur, und damit der globale Meeresspiegel, werden von dem global wirkenden Treibhausgasforcing bestimmt. Im Gegensatz dazu wirkt das orbitale Forcing, welches über Holozän-Zeitskalen dominiert, hauptsächlich auf die Nordhemisphäre. Deshalb kann man ein SEM mit Nordhemisphärentemperaturen antreiben und dadurch die Hauptkomponente der Meeresspiegeländerung über das Holozän simulieren. Es stellte sich heraus, dass eine zusätzliche konstante Rate, von der Größenordnung des antarktischen Beitrags zum Meeresspiegel, nötig ist, um den Meeresspiegelverlauf des Holozäns zu erklären. Der Meeresspiegel seit dem Holozän-Klimaoptimum kann also als eine Summe von temperaturbedingtem Fallen und einem langfristigen positiven Beitrag, wahrscheinlich einer andauernden Reaktion auf die Deglaziation der Antarktis, interpretiert werden. KW - sea level KW - Meeresspiegel KW - climate change KW - Klimawandel KW - projections KW - Projektionen KW - anthropogenic sea level KW - anthropogener Meeresspiegel KW - Holocene KW - Holozän KW - semi-empirical models KW - semiempirische Modelle Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93881 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kellermann, Patric A1 - Schönberger, Christine A1 - Thieken, Annegret T1 - Large-scale application of the flood damage model RAilway Infrastructure Loss (RAIL) T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Experience has shown that river floods can significantly hamper the reliability of railway networks and cause extensive structural damage and disruption. As a result, the national railway operator in Austria had to cope with financial losses of more than EUR 100 million due to flooding in recent years. Comprehensive information on potential flood risk hot spots as well as on expected flood damage in Austria is therefore needed for strategic flood risk management. In view of this, the flood damage model RAIL (RAilway Infrastructure Loss) was applied to estimate (1) the expected structural flood damage and (2) the resulting repair costs of railway infrastructure due to a 30-, 100- and 300-year flood in the Austrian Mur River catchment. The results were then used to calculate the expected annual damage of the railway subnetwork and subsequently analysed in terms of their sensitivity to key model assumptions. Additionally, the impact of risk aversion on the estimates was investigated, and the overall results were briefly discussed against the background of climate change and possibly resulting changes in flood risk. The findings indicate that the RAIL model is capable of supporting decision-making in risk management by providing comprehensive risk information on the catchment level. It is furthermore demonstrated that an increased risk aversion of the railway operator has a marked influence on flood damage estimates for the study area and, hence, should be considered with regard to the development of risk management strategies. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 555 KW - climate KW - Europe KW - projections KW - events Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-411915 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 555 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Horton, Benjamin P. A1 - Khan, Nicole S. A1 - Cahill, Niamh A1 - Lee, Janice S. H. A1 - Shaw, Timothy A. A1 - Garner, Andra J. A1 - Kemp, Andrew C. A1 - Engelhart, Simon E. A1 - Rahmstorf, Stefan T1 - Estimating global mean sea-level rise and its uncertainties by 2100 and 2300 from an expert survey T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Sea-level rise projections and knowledge of their uncertainties are vital to make informed mitigation and adaptation decisions. To elicit projections from members of the scientific community regarding future global mean sea-level (GMSL) rise, we repeated a survey originally conducted five years ago. Under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6, 106 experts projected a likely (central 66% probability) GMSL rise of 0.30-0.65 m by 2100, and 0.54-2.15 m by 2300, relative to 1986-2005. Under RCP 8.5, the same experts projected a likely GMSL rise of 0.63-1.32 m by 2100, and 1.67-5.61 m by 2300. Expert projections for 2100 are similar to those from the original survey, although the projection for 2300 has extended tails and is higher than the original survey. Experts give a likelihood of 42% (original survey) and 45% (current survey) that under the high-emissions scenario GMSL rise will exceed the upper bound (0.98 m) of the likely range estimated by the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is considered to have an exceedance likelihood of 17%. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that the increases in upper-end estimates and uncertainties arose from recent influential studies about the impact of marine ice cliff instability on the meltwater contribution to GMSL rise from the Antarctic Ice Sheet. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1437 KW - projections KW - Greenland KW - consequences KW - climate Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-516788 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich A1 - Lissner, Tabea Katharina A1 - Fischer, Erich M. A1 - Wohland, Jan A1 - Perrette, Mahé A1 - Golly, Antonius A1 - Rogelj, Joeri A1 - Childers, Katelin A1 - Schewe, Jacob A1 - Frieler, Katja A1 - Mengel, Matthias A1 - Hare, William A1 - Schaeffer, Michiel T1 - Differential climate impacts for policy-relevant limits to global warming BT - the case of 1.5 °C and 2 °C T2 - Earth System Dynamics N2 - Robust appraisals of climate impacts at different levels of global-mean temperature increase are vital to guide assessments of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The 2015 Paris Agreement includes a two-headed temperature goal: "holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C". Despite the prominence of these two temperature limits, a comprehensive overview of the differences in climate impacts at these levels is still missing. Here we provide an assessment of key impacts of climate change at warming levels of 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C, including extreme weather events, water availability, agricultural yields, sea-level rise and risk of coral reef loss. Our results reveal substantial differences in impacts between a 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C warming that are highly relevant for the assessment of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. For heat-related extremes, the additional 0.5 degrees C increase in global-mean temperature marks the difference between events at the upper limit of present-day natural variability and a new climate regime, particularly in tropical regions. Similarly, this warming difference is likely to be decisive for the future of tropical coral reefs. In a scenario with an end-of-century warming of 2 degrees C, virtually all tropical coral reefs are projected to be at risk of severe degradation due to temperature-induced bleaching from 2050 onwards. This fraction is reduced to about 90% in 2050 and projected to decline to 70% by 2100 for a 1.5 degrees C scenario. Analyses of precipitation-related impacts reveal distinct regional differences and hot-spots of change emerge. Regional reduction in median water availability for the Mediterranean is found to nearly double from 9% to 17% between 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C, and the projected lengthening of regional dry spells increases from 7 to 11%. Projections for agricultural yields differ between crop types as well as world regions. While some (in particular high-latitude) regions may benefit, tropical regions like West Africa, South-East Asia, as well as Central and northern South America are projected to face substantial local yield reductions, particularly for wheat and maize. Best estimate sea-level rise projections based on two illustrative scenarios indicate a 50cm rise by 2100 relative to year 2000-levels for a 2 degrees C scenario, and about 10 cm lower levels for a 1.5 degrees C scenario. In a 1.5 degrees C scenario, the rate of sea-level rise in 2100 would be reduced by about 30% compared to a 2 degrees C scenario. Our findings highlight the importance of regional differentiation to assess both future climate risks and different vulnerabilities to incremental increases in global-mean temperature. The article provides a consistent and comprehensive assessment of existing projections and a good basis for future work on refining our understanding of the difference between impacts at 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C warming. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 426 KW - sea-level rise KW - Greenland ice-sheet KW - coral-reefs KW - precipitation extremes KW - West Antarctica KW - pine Island KW - model KW - projections KW - temperature KW - scenarios Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-410258 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Levermann, Anders A1 - Winkelmann, Ricarda T1 - A simple equation for the melt elevation feedback of ice sheets T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - In recent decades, the Greenland Ice Sheet has been losing mass and has thereby contributed to global sea-level rise. The rate of ice loss is highly relevant for coastal protection worldwide. The ice loss is likely to increase under future warming. Beyond a critical temperature threshold, a meltdown of the Greenland Ice Sheet is induced by the self-enforcing feedback between its lowering surface elevation and its increasing surface mass loss: the more ice that is lost, the lower the ice surface and the warmer the surface air temperature, which fosters further melting and ice loss. The computation of this rate so far relies on complex numerical models which are the appropriate tools for capturing the complexity of the problem. By contrast we aim here at gaining a conceptual understanding by deriving a purposefully simple equation for the self-enforcing feedback which is then used to estimate the melt time for different levels of warming using three observable characteristics of the ice sheet itself and its surroundings. The analysis is purely conceptual in nature. It is missing important processes like ice dynamics for it to be useful for applications to sea-level rise on centennial timescales, but if the volume loss is dominated by the feedback, the resulting logarithmic equation unifies existing numerical simulations and shows that the melt time depends strongly on the level of warming with a critical slow-down near the threshold: the median time to lose 10% of the present-day ice volume varies between about 3500 years for a temperature level of 0.5 degrees C above the threshold and 500 years for 5 degrees C. Unless future observations show a significantly higher melting sensitivity than currently observed, a complete meltdown is unlikely within the next 2000 years without significant ice-dynamical contributions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 529 KW - sea-level rise KW - mass-balance KW - climate-change KW - Greenland KW - model KW - glacier KW - projections KW - dynamics KW - impact KW - 21st-Century Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-409834 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 529 ER -