Competent Communication of Climate Issues

It is the mission of the South German Climate Office to supply scientific information on the climate in Southern Germany and to answer questions relating to anthropogenic climate changes. The Office shall help decision-makers on the federal level, in the federal states and municipalities as well as in authorities, politics, and economy. In addition, the Climate Office provides for a connection between science, the public, and media. To contact the South German Climate Office, click http://www.sueddeutsches-klimabuero.de/.

Dr. Elisabeth Zuber-Knost
Press Officer

Kaiserstraße 12
76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Phone: +49 721/608-2089
Fax: +49 721/608-3658

For details, please contact:

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Public Relations and Marketing Department
Inge Arnold
Postfach 3640,
76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

Phone: +49 7247 82-2861
Fax: +49 7247 82-5080
E-mail

Citizens, associations, enterprises, and public institutions increasingly consider climate change to be an urgent problem. This becomes especially obvious when extreme weather situations or regional catastrophes occur. Consequently, the demand for scientifically reliable assessments and statements relating to the regional extent and impacts of climate change is increasing. The South German Climate Office of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) shall supply scientific advice on climate issues in South Germany.

“It will be the task of the South German Climate Office to supply facts, data, and findings from previous climate studies on a regional scale”, explains Dr. Peter Fritz, member of the Executive Board of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. “We offer support in the interpretation of these findings and in the development of measures resulting from climate change.”

Work of the Office will be based on basic and applied climate research competence and technologies existing at the various institutes of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and the Universität Karlsruhe. In addition, the new Office shall act as an interface to other scientific institutions in Southern Germany, which have acquired vast expertise in various fields. Federal institutions (e.g. the German Weather Service) and state institutes (e.g. the State Institute for the Environment, Measurements, and Nature Protection in Baden-Württemberg) already fulfill major tasks of climate monitoring and are involved in the respective research programs.

The KIT institutes possess comprehensive know-how that shall be used in the South German Climate Office. This know-how was obtained from research projects in South Germany, such as the already completed trinational REKLIP project. The result of this project was the “Klimaatlas Oberrhein Mitte-Süd” (Climate Map Upper Rhine, Middle-South) that lists a number of scientific results. Another example is the Bavarian climate research program BayForKlim, in which the Forschungszentrum’s Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research Division, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen participated. Well-founded statements relating to climate change are based on fundamental findings with respect to the chemical composition of the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect, the change of the ozone layer, and the influence of aerosols, which have been obtained by the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. At Karlsruhe and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, extensive data sets and vast experience have been obtained from long-term measurements at stations in the South German low mountains and the Alps. In addition, results of large-scale field experiments and high-resolution model studies of climate change are considered. The Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research assumes a leading role in the new research program “The Challenge of Climate Change”, which is performed under the initiative for the future launched by the state of Baden-Württemberg. A number of contacts have been established with industry, utility companies, public institutions, and municipalities.

The South German Climate Office will coordinate its activities with the already existing North German Climate Office that was established at the Forschungszentrum Geesthacht in March 2007. It is one of four climate offices planned by the Helmholtz Association.

To contact the South German Climate Office, click http://www.sueddeutsches-klimabuero.de/.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) represents the merger of the Universität Karlsruhe with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. Altogether, it has 8000 employees and an annual budget of 600 million Euros.