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Spatiotemporal evolution of the hydrological cycle throughout the European continent during past abrupt climate changes

Project description

Understanding spatial patterns of hydrological changes in Europe

Communities bear the direct impact of shifting ocean currents and atmospheric circulation patterns, as well as increased periods of drought, and extreme weather events. However, current climate models lack crucial information on the spatial patterns of hydrological changes, hindering the effective implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change. The EU-funded STEEPclim project aims to address this knowledge gap by reconstructing historical hydrological changes during past abrupt temperature and ocean circulation shifts, specifically focusing on the European continent. Leveraging a dual biomarker approach, the project will analyse precise terrestrial climate records to generate valuable quantitative paleohydrological data. STEEPclim will provide crucial insights into spatial patterns and mechanisms of hydrological changes, empowering communities to build resilience against future climate challenges.

Objective

With global temperatures on the rise due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, one of the largest short-term threats to societies comes from a changing water cycle: changing ocean currents and atmospheric circulation patterns, increased periods of drought or extreme precipitation events directly affect the socio-economic foundation of communities. However, one of the great unknowns in state-of-the art climate models predicting future changes is the spatial distribution of changing precipitation patterns. This lack of knowledge severely limits implementation of mitigation and adaptation options to divert the most severe consequences of climate change.
I propose a fundamentally new approach to understand spatial patterns and mechanisms of hydrological changes on the European continent by reconstructing such changes during past abrupt temperature and ocean circulation changes. We will develop an innovative research program integrating ideas and methods from diverse disciplines: organic geochemistry, plant physiology, event stratigraphy and geostatistical data analysis. We will generate quantitative paleohydrological data by developing a dual biomarker approach as a novel and direct proxy for fluxes in the hydrological cycle from 10 of the most precisely dated terrestrial climate records encompassing the European continent.
STEEPclim will enter uncharted territory and establish master records of continental climate change, comparable in resolution and quality to the polar ice cores. We will identify continental-scale feedback mechanisms and particularly vulnerable regions in European hydroclimate relevant for the evaluation of the consequences of ongoing climate change. These mechanistic insights will be essential to validate future generations of climate models, ensuring more accurate predictions of regional effects of anthropogenic climate changes and as such enable a targeted mitigation and adaptation policy.

Host institution

HELMHOLTZ ZENTRUM POTSDAM DEUTSCHES GEOFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM GFZ
Net EU contribution
€ 1 847 546,00
Address
TELEGRAFENBERG
14473 POTSDAM
Germany

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Region
Brandenburg Brandenburg Potsdam
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 1 847 546,00

Beneficiaries (1)