The world of CO₂ | CO₂ through time
Further information

RESEARCH

The following research groups are investigating the data and dynamics presented in the exhibit ‘The changing carbon cycle’.

LAND-CLIMATE DYNAMICS

Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich

The research group, led by Prof. Dr. Sonia Seneviratne, a lead author of the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), studies how land and climate affect each other. They look at how events like droughts, heatwaves, and heavy rainfall might become more frequent or intense due to climate change. A key part of their work is using computer models to predict how these extreme weather events could change in the future, especially considering future CO₂ emissions.

Land-Climate Dynamics (Prof. Sonia I. Seneviratne) – Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science | ETH Zurich

BIOGEOSCIENCE

Geological Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ETH Zurich

Led by Prof. Dr. Tim Eglinton, this research group studies how carbon moves through the Earth – especially through soils, rivers, and oceans. They focus on organic carbon, which comes from living things like plants and animals. The team looks at how this carbon is produced, transported, and eventually stored in ocean sediments. With projects like RICH, they also study carbon flows specifically in Switzerland. This knowledge helps to design effective strategies to fight climate change.

Biogeoscience: Homepage – Biogeoscience | ETH Zurich

WEATHER AND CLIMATE RISKS

Institute for Environmental Decisions, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich

Led by Prof. Dr. David Bresch, this research group studies how extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones affect important parts of society, including infrastructure, work productivity, and migration. Their goal is to better understand climate risks and to develop models that help assess these risks and plan strategies for adapting to them.

https://wcr.ethz.ch/the-group.html

PROF. DR. NICOLAS GRUBER

Center f. Climate Systems Modeling, Departement of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich

As a professor of environmental physics, Nicolas Gruber studies biogeochemical cycles and how they interact with Earth’s climate system – especially in oceans. His research provides key insights into how carbon moves through the environment, the role of the oceans in storing carbon, and how problems like ocean acidification and marine heatwaves are developing.

Prof. Dr. Nicolas Gruber | ETH Zurich

PROF. DR. DANIEL FARINOTTI

Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering

Daniel Farinotti uses computer models to study how glaciers are shrinking due to climate change. His research provides valuable information for managing and planning future water resources.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Farinotti | ETH Zurich

CLIMATE & AGRICULTURE

Agroecology & Environment, Agroscope (Swiss competence center for agricultural research)

This research group studies how climate change affects agriculture in Switzerland. Their work focuses on greenhouse gas emissions from farming and on strategies to help agriculture adapt to changing climate conditions.

Climate and Agriculture

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to sincerely thank:

REFERENCES

Videos

Jakobshavn calving
Fridolin Walcher, WalcherBild GmbH

Volcano eruption Iceland, various nature videos
Léon Frey

Polar Bear standing on broken sea ice;
Wildfire aerial view. uncontrolled wild fire in forest area. wildfire smoke caisung air pollution. nature, environment, ecology, earth. global climate change concept.;
Rocks and boulders falling down hillside.;
Experience the breathtaking slow motion tracking shot of a massive boulder dramatically descending in front of the camera.; Dead Bleached Coral Reef (Coral Bleaching);
UNDERWATER, POV: Tropical fish swim around the dead corals destroyed by global warming. Sad first person view of diving along a bleached exotic coral reef. Climate change is damaging marine life.;
UNDERWATER: Bleached corals are scattered around the white sand ocean floor. Sad view of a coral reef graveyard caused by climate change. Global warming destroys corals in the picturesque Maldives.;
2018 – A firefighter stands in silhouette and fights a huge hillside blaze during the Holiday Fire in Goleta, California.;
Calving blue glacier
Adobe Stock

ISS Views of Hurricane Dorian – August 31, 2019;
ISS Views of Hurricane Dorian – September 1, 2019
NASA

various recordings
Pixabay

Data

Future atmospheric CO~2~ concentrations
Keywan Riahi, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Elmar Kriegler, Jae Edmonds, Brian C. O’Neill, Shinichiro Fujimori, Nico Bauer, Katherine Calvin, Rob Dellink, Oliver Fricko, Wolfgang Lutz, Alexander Popp, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Samir KC, Marian Leimbach, Leiwen Jiang, Tom Kram, Shilpa Rao, Johannes Emmerling, Kristie Ebi, Tomoko Hasegawa, Petr Havlík, Florian Humpenöder, Lara Aleluia Da Silva, Steve Smith, Elke Stehfest, Valentina Bosetti, Jiyong Eom, David Gernaat, Toshihiko Masui, Joeri Rogelj, Jessica Strefler, Laurent Drouet, Volker Krey, Gunnar Luderer, Mathijs Harmsen, Kiyoshi Takahashi, Lavinia Baumstark, Jonathan C. Doelman, Mikiko Kainuma, Zbigniew Klimont, Giacomo Marangoni, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Michael Obersteiner, Andrzej Tabeau, Massimo Tavoni. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their energy, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions implications (2017). An overview, Global Environmental Change, Volume 42, Pages 153-168, 2017, ISSN 0959-3780, DOI:110.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.05.009

Greenhouse gas emissions 1960-2024
Forster, P. M., Smith, C., Walsh, T., Lamb, W. F., Lamboll, R., Hall, B., Hauser, M., Ribes, A., Rosen, D., Gillett, N. P., Palmer, M. D., Rogelj, J., von Schuckmann, K., Trewin, B., Allen, M., Andrew, R., Betts, R. A., Borger, A., Boyer, T., Broersma, J. A., Buontempo, C., Burgess, S., Cagnazzo, C., Cheng, L., Friedlingstein, P., Gettelman, A., Gütschow, J., Ishii, M., Jenkins, S., Lan, X., Morice, C., Mühle, J., Kadow, C., Kennedy, J., Killick, R. E., Krummel, P. B., Minx, J. C., Myhre, G., Naik, V., Peters, G. P., Pirani, A., Pongratz, J., Schleussner, C.-F., Seneviratne, S. I., Szopa, S., Thorne, P., Kovilakam, M. V. M., Majamäki, E., Jalkanen, J.-P., van Marle, M., Hoesly, R. M., Rohde, R., Schumacher, D., van der Werf, G., Vose, R., Zickfeld, K., Zhang, X., Masson-Delmotte, V., and Zhai, P. (2024). Indicators of Global Climate Change 2023: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2625–2658, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2625-2024

Greenhouse gas emissions before 1960
Gulev, S.K., P.W. Thorne, J. Ahn, F.J. Dentener, C.M. Domingues, S. Gerland, D. Gong, D.S. Kaufman, H.C. Nnamchi, J. Quaas, J.A. Rivera, S. Sathyendranath, S.L. Smith, B. Trewin, K. von Schuckmann, and R.S. Vose (2021). Changing State of the Climate System. In Climate Change, 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 287–422, doi: 10.1017/9781009157896.004