Extreme drought and several once-in-a-century floods. To understand how these two extremes are related, it is important to understand the water cycle.
In a clear and concise introduction, Axel Kleidon explains the key drivers of the water cycle and shows how it actively influences our climate—a process that is closely linked to energy and motion.
Learn how climate change is altering the water cycle and why we must expect both more frequent droughts and more intense heavy rainfall in the future. The lecture also offers fascinating insights into the already noticeable effects of climate change in Germany and explains why the last few decades have been marked by increased drought.
Axel Kleidon has led an independent research group at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry since 2006. His work focuses on energy transformations in the Earth system in relation to the laws of thermodynamics. He is committed to communicating his research findings to the general public through interviews, review articles, and video segments.
