Living with Climate Change: Soils are key

9 October 2019, by CEN Universität Hamburg

Photo: UHH / Ohme

Several new professors have been appointed at the Department of Earth Sciences. Here we are introducing the new colleagues. Today: Christian Beer

Professor Beer, extensive fires in the Arctic and their possible consequences for the climate have caused considerable concern this summer. You’ve worked as a soil scientist in the region – how big is the problem?

Our current understanding of the fires in the Arctic is based on field observations, from the air and on satellite data. Unfortunately we don’t have any comprehensive data, and it’s difficult to determine the precise extent. In fact, fires there are a regular occurrence – they are part of the system. However, if there are fires of this size in several consecutive years, it becomes a problem. We know that the June fires in the northern Taiga were more serious than those indicated by satellite images over the last 15 years, but it’s still too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

But the fires are just one aspect. We know that the Arctic is warming disproportionately: Since industrialization began, the global temperature has risen by one degree – and at high northern latitudes, it has already risen by two degrees. At the same time, the system is particularly vulnerable to the additional heat. The ice content in the soil dwindles, and microorganisms start degrading the biomass, producing vast additional quantities of CO₂, which are released into the atmosphere. Added to this are trace gases, like methane, which has an even greater effect on the climate.

A Special Report by the IPCC shows that roughly 30 percent of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions are bound in plants and soils – but also the negative impact that climate change will have on terrestrial ecosystems in the future…

Yes, soil is key to the question of how we humans will live with climate change in the future. On the one hand, it is important for the carbon cycle – for plant growth, as a habitat for microorganisms, as a water reservoir, but also as an interim store for organic carbon. On the other hand, more and more sectors are helping themselves to soil resources: agriculture, the energy industry, etc. Added to this is the growing global population and the demand for food and living space. We have to consider all these factors when it comes to living with and adapting to the consequences of climate change.

You hold a so-called Heisenberg Professorship – awarded and funded by the German research Foundation (DFG). What are your plans?

For me, one of the core questions is how carbon enters the permafrost in the first place. My theory: the better we understand how these vast carbon sinks developed, the better we’ll be able to calculate how much CO2 will be released in the mid-and long-term as a result of the thawing of the Arctic soil. How, and under what conditions did the carbon reach deep down into the soil? What happened and happens when it freezes and then thaws again.

You are originally from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, but in the last few years you worked at Stockholm University. What was different in Sweden?

Sweden is a small country. In academic circles everyone knows everyone. They have flat hierarchies, which is good for dialog – and that’s what science thrives on. I worked as an Associate Professor there, which means that my “uni socialization” is Swedish. There, universities run a little differently; for example, teaching is done in block courses, where several instructors together offer a course on a major topic, and each contributes his or her own particular expertise. This also promotes lively discussions between the instructors. There may be parallels with the CEN and the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS, which I’ll be involved with: Here research and teaching is cross-disciplinary as well as cross-institutional – with the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. That excites me, and I’m confident I can play a valuable part here.

What else did you grow to love in Sweden that’s worth importing?

Hm, maybe the coffee culture – the so-called Fika. That’s a real institution in Sweden. You stop work and consciously take time to chat. And in fact, afterwards a lot of things go better.

Contact Christian Beer