Coastal Summerschool 2025

General information

The coastal summer school are realized in cooperation of some of the leading national centres for coastal research in Germany: Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Research Warnemünde, and the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. They have been organizing a annual summer school since 2002 in Sylt, Helgoland, Büsum, Lauenburg and Warnemünde.

The current climate change and thus global warming is directly attributable to the increase in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) and others. It is now clear that we can only limit global warming to below 2°C in accordance with the Paris Agreement by achieving “net zero” and thus also removing greenhouse gases. As a starting point for implementing suitable measures, we need to know, measure and model all anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks.

Coastal waters, including shelf seas and estuaries, are ecosystems with high productivity and therefore also hotspots for sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. However, they are considered greenhouse gas sinks worldwide. In addition, coasts and rivers are strongly influenced by anthropogenic changes and are therefore sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, for example. Nevertheless, measurements and modeling of these sources and sinks are not yet fully understood.

At the summer school we want to address the following questions:

• How do natural and anthropogenic material cycles such as Carbon and nitrogen influence each other?
• Are coastal waters rather sinks or sources?
• Which processes are changed by anthropogenic influences?
• How can these highly complex systems be modeled?
• What measures can strengthen the natural sinks and reduce emissions?

During the Greenhouse Gases Summer School experienced scientists from Physical Oceanography, Sedimentology, Biogeochemistry, Coastal Ecology, and Marine Geology will share their knowledge and teach the participants by providing state-of-the-art insides and hands-on training during ten days in Geesthacht and on the Hereon Campus with a one day shipboard training on the Elbe River on the RV “Coriolis”, the new “Cutting-edge environmental research and innovation platform” with a climate-friendlier propulsion.