Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Three-dimensional circulation controls on pollutant retention and mucilage accumulation in the sea of Marmara: A Lagrangian perspective

The Sea of Marmara is undergoing a severe marine pollution crisis driven by chronic nutrient enrichment and recurrent mucilage outbreaks. The physical mechanisms controlling transport, accumulation and persistence of pollutants and organic matter remain insufficiently resolved. H...

Recurrence lacunarity of spatial data

Abstract Quantifying the structure and heterogeneity of complex spatial patterns remains a key challenge in spatial data analysis. Recurrence plots (RPs) offer a powerful method for visualizing the recurrent spatial patterns in such data. To quantify the structure of spatial recu...

Reconstructing the evolution of the Gulf Stream system

As one of its most important heat transport systems, the Gulf Stream system has a significant influence on the Earth’s climate. The system is predicted to weaken under global warming, and scientists have wondered for years whether this slowdown has already begun. As direct measur...

Quantum circuits, hypercubeharmonic, and remote networked improvisation: a case study

Abstract Mathematics and theoretical physics not only allow us to investigate musical artworks, but also fuel artistic creativity and imagination. In this paper, we present an artistic framework inspired by mathematics and physics. We describe the HyperCubeHarmonic (HCH), an inte...

Synchronization of topological signals in higher-order adaptive multilayer network

The study of synchronization in complex systems has recently been revolutionized by incorporating higher-order interactions through simplicial complexes. Building in particular upon the higher-order Kuramoto model, which considers oscillators on nodes, links, and higher-dimension...

The global cost of automobility

This study quantifies the private and social costs of global automobility and evaluates the potential economic benefits of a transition to shared electric autonomous mobility-as-a-service (E-AV-MaaS). Using comprehensive cost components, including accidents, emissions, air pollut...

Motivations for smart cities differ between Africa, Europe, and Asia

Smart cities are understood in literature and among municipal actors as a way forward to better organize and manage cities. However, the underlying motivations behind smart city development diverge substantially across regions, and their implications for governance capacity and u...

Humans: Intertwined with life and the basic elements in the Anthropocene biosphere

Abstract The notion of people and nature as intertwined and embedded in the biosphere is gaining traction in contemporary scientific discourses. But what does it mean for a human being to be intertwined? Here, we explore this question through two lenses: looking at the human body...

Chronic exposure to aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, and citrinin in women and children and associated health risk characterization: blood biomonitoring evidence from rural Bangladesh

Abstract Dietary exposure to mycotoxins—including aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), and citrinin (CIT)—represents an important health risk, particularly in low-resource settings with widespread food contamination. This study investigates mycotoxin exposure among 712 participa...

Sea Level Emulator Intercomparison Project (SLEIP) Phase 1: Assessing emulated multi-century global mean sea level projections

Abstract. Simplified sea level modelling approaches calibrated against reference data, also referred to as sea level emulators, can explore future sea level rise and associated uncertainties with low computational cost. Here, we introduce the Sea Level Emulator Intercomparison Pr...

The Ocean: A Key Earth System Regulator with Boundaries

By regulating Earth’s climate and buffering the impacts of anthropogenic pressures, the ocean plays a crucial stabilizing role in the Earth system – yet, in doing so, it is itself undergoing profound changes. This Perspective outlines the role of the ocean in the Earth system and...

Climate and dengue synchronization in southern Brazil: a municipal analysis with cross-state validation

Dengue transmission is rapidly expanding beyond its historical tropical range, raising concerns about how climate change may alter the collective dynamics of epidemics. While most studies focus on transmission risk, much less is known about how climate affects the synchronization...

Regime Shifts and Transformations in Social-Ecological Systems: Advancing Critical Frontiers for Safe and Just Futures

Current research challenges in sustainability science require us to consider nonlinear changes—shifts that do not happen gradually but can be sudden and difficult to predict. Central questions are therefore how we can prevent harmful shifts, promote desirable ones, and better ant...

Implementing methane dynamics into the LPJmL6 model

Abstract. We extend the Dynamic Global Vegetation Model LPJmL to version 6.0 by explicitly representing methane (CH4) dynamics within the coupled carbon–nitrogen–water system. The implementation (i) prognoses water-table depth and wetland extent using a CTI–TOPMODEL framework, (i...

Feasible geological carbon dioxide storage projections require updated cost and geological potential assumptions

Integrated Assessment Models project large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide geological storage across many climate change mitigation pathways. However, the feasibility of these projections - particularly concerning near-term scale-up rates - has been criticised. Here, we examin...