BACC II Launch at ECCA2015 in Copenhagen

According to Springer, the BACC II book will be officially published on 14 May 2015: http://www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/earth+system+sciences/book/978-3-319-16005-4.

On this occasion we will have a short launch event in the frame of ECCA 2015 the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference, 12-14 May in Copenhagen, with an expected 1.000 participants. This conference seems perfect for the launch of the book, as international stakeholders interested in regional climate change information will gather there.

The event will be on Thursday 14 May as Midday Plenary in the Auditorium 11 of the Bella Center in Copenhagen, 13:15 - 13:45.

There will be a short introduction to BACC by Hans von Storch, followed by a podium discussion. Here, we have confirmed participation by a range of stakeholders:

Hans von Storch, climate scientist and BACC initiator
Deliang Chen, climate scientist (University of Gothenburg, and former Executive Director of ICSU, the International Council of Science)
Maxi Nachtigall, representative of a political network (CBSS Secretariat; the Council of the Baltic Sea States provides an intergovernmental platform for regional cooperation and works through networks and project-based activities)
Lykke Leonardsen, practitioner in climate change adaptation (Head of Climate Unit, City of Copenhagen)
HELCOM representative (asked) HELCOM is the intergovernmental commission for the protection of the Baltic Sea, and an important policy-science interface in the Baltic Sea region. HELCOM has been a prime stakeholder of BACC, and two HELCOM Thematic Assessment Reports were published on the basis of the BACC material.

Earlier on this day (Thursday 14 May), a short summary of the BACC II book will be presented in the Session "Adapting the Baltic Sea region to a changing climate" under the Topic "Regional Challenges and Opportunities", at 8:30 in the Auditorium 12.

We sincerely hope to see many of you at this event, to be part of the BACC II launch!

BACC II book on the finish line...

The new BACC II book is in its final stage of production. Here you can see a first glimpse of the cover...

According to the augurs, the book will be published in April as Open Access.

You can already now pre-order a print copy here... 

Baltic Earth Seminar at HafenCity University Hamburg, 10 March 2015

As a good tradition, we attach a scientific workshop or seminar to regular Baltic Earth Science Steering Group meetings. This time we meet at the new HafenCity University (HCU) in Hamburg. HCU is brand new and is a highlight in the new HafenCity, which is a completely new city quarter where there had been for decades old and decaying port facilities.

The seminar´s topic this time will be: 

Climate modelling and impacts: From the Global to the Regional to the Urban scale

Scope of the seminar is to give an overview over the current state of research in the fields of global and regional climate modelling, and the impacts on the regional and urban scales.

Posters related to the seminar topic are invited to be presented. Send a poster abstract to balticearth@hzg.de. Poster abstract and registration deadline is 2 March 2015. There are no fees involved but registration is required.

Registration link: www.hzg.de/hamburg2015
Event link: www.baltic-earth.eu/hamburg2015
Programme and flyer download here...

This open seminar is part of Baltic Earth and is organized by the International Baltic Earth Secretariat at Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht in cooperation with HafenCity Universität Hamburg (HCU) and the Cluster of Excellence CliSAP of Hamburg University, which stands for „Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction“.

Baltic Earth Website launched!

Finally!!! The new Baltic Earth website is online!

www.baltic-earth.eu

 The new website succeeds the brave BALTEX website which has served BALTEX and Baltic Earth information for two decades. It is now in its well-deserved retirement, but still at service for any information on the BALTEX programme. It remains online under its address www.baltex-research.eu, but will not be further updated except for BALTEX related issues which may still come up in the future. Both, the old BALTEX and the new Baltic Earth sites are interlinked. And by the way... soon we there will be a Baltic Earth Facebook page.

Joint BACC and NOSCCA session at the EGU in Vienna, 12-17 April 2015

BACC has compiled the available knowledge on climate change and its impacts in the Baltic Sea region in a book in 2008. Then in 2010 there was a dedicated report following the BACC template, for the metropolitan region of Hamburg in Northern Germany; this only in German due to its geographically very regional scope. And then an initiative was started to do a BACC-like effort for the North Sea region - named NOSCCA (North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment). The NOSCCA team did not have the advantage that it could be recruited from an existing network of scientists, like BALTEX for the Baltic Sea in the case of BACC. Even more appreciable are the successful efforts of the NOSCCA coordinators to install a high level scientific writing team. The NOSCCA book will be published at the end of 2015 or early 2016, presumably, but they are now in a phase at which their results and chapters contents can be shared with the scientific community. This will be done in a joint session together with BACC. The BACC II book is about to be published (in print, expected in spring 2015). BACC II will also be available as Open Access.

Dedicated Session at EGU General Assemly 2015 in Vienna, 12-17 April 2015:  
Climate change assessments for the Baltic and North Sea regions (BACC, NOSCCA): Observations, model projections and impacts.
Programme expected by 25 February 2015. 
Early Registration deadline by 12 March 2015.

BALTEX Phase II paper

The BALTEX Phase II paper has been published - open access
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079661114001335

Progress in physical oceanography of the Baltic Sea during the 2003–2014 period

by A. Omstedt^, J. Elken, A. Lehmann, M. Leppäranta, H.E.M. Meier, K. Myrberg and A. Rutgersson

Highlights

•

We review the last decade’s major achievements in Baltic Sea physical oceanography.

•

Observational, gridded, and model data for the region are increasingly available.

•

Turbulence and strait flows are better understood based on high-resolution data.

•

Baltic system functioning is better understood on decadal and centennial scales.

•

Coupled Baltic Sea–North Sea systems are being better modelled.

Baltic Sea Fund honours BACC initiator Hans von Storch

On 11 February 2014 it was communicated that The Baltic Sea Fund delegation decided to award Hans von Storch for his work on highlighting the impacts of climate change on the Baltic Sea.

Here is the justification of the delegation:

Professor Hans von Storch from Hamburg, Germany is awarded the Baltic Sea Fund Prize for his efforts to shed light on the effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea. He has given an exemplary contribution to compilation of fragmentary information and knowledge into a comprehensive picture of the impact of climate change in the region. Von Storch is through his interdisciplinary collaboration, e.g. with social scientists, and through his interest in the social and human aspects, been able to increase the understanding of climate and climate change in the wider socio-economic context among policy makers and the general public.

I would think that this prize indirectly also honours all those who have participated in the BACC efforts. The second BACC book is currently in preparation and is expected to be published sometime this summer.

Congratulations Hans!

Baltic Earth, working Group on Outreach and Communication

I am suggesting two activities for our working group. Obviously, this working group may pursue a broad range of activities, and my suggestion should not limit anybodies enthusiams to launch other activities.

Newsletter #1 of Baltic Earth

The first newsletter of the renewed BALTEX programme, now named Baltic Earth, has been published.

Cyclone 5--7 December 2013 (Xaver, Bodil) was also an event in the western Baltic Sea - an analysis

Das Seewetteramt Hamburg des Deutschen Wetterdienstes  hat eine Analyse des Orkantiefs am 5-7 Dezember 2013 ausgearbeitet. Der Sturm hiess in Deutschland Xaver, in Dänemark Bodil.

Orkantief XAVER über Nordeuropa vom 5. bis 7. Dezember 2013Dr. Thomas Deutschländer, Karsten Friedrich, Dr. Susanne Haeseler, Christiana Lefebvre; Stand: 09. Dezember 2013