About the lecture

Storing ice volumes of more than 65 meters sea-level equivalent, the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are by far the largest potential source of future sea-level rise. Their stability hence determines the long-term fate of coastal cities and cultural heritage sites around the world.

While massive in size, the ice sheets also belong to the most vulnerable parts of the Earth system: Feedbacks between ice, atmosphere, ocean and solid earth give rise to nonlinearities in their response to progressing global warming. Once a critical temperature threshold is crossed, this could lead to self-sustained and potentially irreversible ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica.

Here, we review the processes behind these dynamic instabilities, discuss the risk of crossing ice-sheet tipping points in the near future, and explore the resulting impacts on sea-level rise and our global climate – not just for this century, but for the next millennia and beyond.

Our results illustrate how near-term greenhouse-gas emissions will lead to long-term impacts that change the face of our planet. This calls for the need to redefine inter-generational climate responsibility, from near-term human impacts to long-term commitments that determine liveability on Earth

Ricarda Winkelmann. Photo: Private

Ricarda Winkelmann, a professor at the University of Potsdam and PIK, leads research on Earth System dynamics, focusing on ice dynamics, ecosystem resilience, and tipping elements. She co-developed the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) and has received several awards for her work, including Young Scientist of the Year and the Karl-Scheel-Prize.