How does your work help to shape the world of tomorrow?
I am Professor of Paleoceanography. I teach earth sciences and biology and conduct research into ecological and climatological changes that took place in the ocean in the geological past. I do this mainly based on algae microfossils combined with chemistry techniques, in collaboration with my colleagues.
Climate change was a constant factor in geological history. In the past, there have been periods with high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. The past levels were caused by natural phenomena. However, now that humans are causing the concentration of CO2 to rise, the past offers us a test case for what effect this will have. What does a world with high levels of CO2 look like? And could we understand such a world? The knowledge provided by the past is slowly becoming so detailed that we can actually test models in order to make future predictions. The value of such knowledge is incalculable.
What does your work contribute to society? How does it impact me?
My work has little direct impact on ordinary people, despite how much the reconstructions of the past capture the imagination. The past also offers an opportunity to gain a perspective on climate change that is complementary to physics. Physics-based climate models are extremely good, but they are always limited by the current state of climate knowledge. Our research examines the real world, albeit the real world of yesteryear. The changes that we reconstruct really did happen, although one limitation of our reconstructions is that we can’t always distinguish causes from effects: something the models can do. Physics and earth sciences can therefore work together to minimise the uncertainties about how the climate works and how climate change will play out in the future. This makes it easier to protect society and specific regions from the effects of climate change.
What is your dream? What do you want to achieve in the next 5–10 years?
Personally, I’ve never really had any dreams, especially not about my career. But what we are all aiming for is to gain greater understanding of how our living environment is going to change in the future. I strive to optimise knowledge of the past to enable better prediction of the effects of CO2 on all timescales, including all of the complex feedback in the climate system.
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