Category: Thermodynamics

New Book Chapter:  Understanding the Earth as a Whole System: From the Gaia Hypothesis to Thermodynamic Optimality and Human Societies

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

“The whole is more than the sum of its parts” – this has been said by smart people throughout human history, from Aristotle to Gibbs.  But how does it apply to the vastly complex Earth system?  In the book chapter just published I describe how this focus on the whole combined with a thermodynamic formulation of the Earth system including life helps us to understand that the whole is more, and simpler, than the sum of its parts.  This is because complex, natural systems appear to work at their thermodynamic limit.  The emergent functioning may then very well share characteristics similar to those postulated by the controversial Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock, which states that life regulates the Earth for its own benefit.

Continue reading “New Book Chapter:  Understanding the Earth as a Whole System: From the Gaia Hypothesis to Thermodynamic Optimality and Human Societies” →
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New Blogpost: How much energy will I consume to keep our home warm this winter? A simple estimate, utilizing climate data, gas meter readings, and past gas bills. And yes, the second law comes into play as well.

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

Winter is coming, snow is falling, and here in Jena we will need gas to heat our homes. Gas prices are at their all-time high, so how much heat do I need and how can I reduce it? I describe a simple, physical way to estimate how much energy I should need to heat our home, and how this can help to find out how effective measures are to reduce energy consumption.

Continue reading “New Blogpost: How much energy will I consume to keep our home warm this winter? A simple estimate, utilizing climate data, gas meter readings, and past gas bills. And yes, the second law comes into play as well.” →

#AGU22: We will be in Chicago next week to present our updates about thermodynamic and energetic controls on land-atmosphere exchange and Arctic sea ice loss events

~ saroshalam ~ Leave a comment

It is that time of the year again and the AGU Fall Meeting is all set to take place in the hybrid format. This year two members of our lab Sarosh Alam Ghausi and Yinglin Tian will be presenting their research in person at the conference.

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Can we infer rainfall sensitivity to global warming using observations of precipitation and temperature? Not quite, until you correct for the cooling effects of clouds.

~ saroshalam ~ Leave a comment

Rainfall events are expected to become heavier as the hydrologic cycle intensifies with global warming. To determine this strengthening, many studies use observed precipitation events and test how these change with observed temperatures. These so-called scaling rates differ from what is expected from theory, showing a decline above temperatures of around 23° – 25°C. This breakdown in scaling makes it difficult to interpret the precipitation response to global warming and its cause further remains unclear. It also raises the question of whether a high-temperature threshold limits the increase in the intensity of precipitation events with temperature. We resolve this in our latest paper by showing that the break in scaling primarily occurs due to radiative effect of clouds on surface temperatures that leads to a covariation between the two variables.

Continue reading “Can we infer rainfall sensitivity to global warming using observations of precipitation and temperature? Not quite, until you correct for the cooling effects of clouds.” →

We’ll be at #EGU22, showing how radiation and maximum power shape temperatures, their extremes, the atmospheric circulation and the wind energy resource. @akleidon @s_ghausi @yinglin_tian

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

Corona is still around, also in Vienna, but the EGU General Assembly will nevertheless happen again, in a hybrid form. We are thrilled to be there physically, giving our 6 minute short talks on our work, and look forward to seeing and talking to you there!

Continue reading “We’ll be at #EGU22, showing how radiation and maximum power shape temperatures, their extremes, the atmospheric circulation and the wind energy resource. @akleidon @s_ghausi @yinglin_tian” →

“Thermodynamics and Optimality of the Biosphere” – online lecture, today, Friday, March 25, at 17:00 Jena time (CET) or 10:00 in Mexico. Interested? You can join too, if you like, here’s the link and background material.

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

Thermodynamics, entropy and life — does this sound intriguing but also confusing to you? As part of the virtual Spring School on Physics and Mathematics applied to Ecology, organized by Oliver Lopez Corona, I give a lecture where I will cover how thermodynamics applies to the biosphere and the planetary environment, and how it connects to concepts such as the Gaia hypothesis or planetary boundaries. Hopefully, after the lecture, it is clearer to you what entropy is, how it applies to the Earth system, its biosphere, and their interactions. And why it is so important! If you are interested to learn more, this blogpost provides some links to literature mentioned in the lecture.

Continue reading ““Thermodynamics and Optimality of the Biosphere” – online lecture, today, Friday, March 25, at 17:00 Jena time (CET) or 10:00 in Mexico. Interested? You can join too, if you like, here’s the link and background material.” →

Interested in how the Earth system works?  I have a #PostDoc opening available in my group, applying thermodynamics, max. power, and optimality to Earth system science. @MPI_BGC

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

The position is in my research group, which focuses on how the Earth functions as a whole system, the role of life within it, and what a sustainable human future might look like. We take a unique Earth system approach that focuses on thermodynamics, energy conversions, and limits/optimality such as maximum power.

We are seeking a motivated and interested person to help us further develop this approach, evaluate it using observational data, and/or compare it to climate model results. More details are provided in the formal job announcement, which you can find here. More background information in this post.

Continue reading “Interested in how the Earth system works?  I have a #PostDoc opening available in my group, applying thermodynamics, max. power, and optimality to Earth system science. @MPI_BGC” →

“Kraftwerk Erde: Wie der belebte Planet Energie umwandelt” – Vortrag bei #FasziAstroOnline, heute Abend, 13.01.2022, 19 Uhr, live auf youtube.  Mehr Infos im Blog. @MPI_BGC @HdAstro

~ Axel Kleidon ~ Leave a comment

Die Erde arbeitet wie ein Kraftwerk, indem sie Sonnenenergie in andere Formen umwandelt, die die Winde der Atmosphäre, den Wasserkreislauf, und auch das Leben und die Menschheit auf der Erde erhalten.  Diese Umwandlungen folgen den Gesetzen der Thermodynamik, die sowohl die Richtung als auch die Grenzen setzt.  Aber Erdsystemprozesse beeinflussen sich auch gegenseitig, sodass man einen Blick auf das Gesamtsystem braucht.  In diesem Vortrag zeige ich, dass man allein durch diesen grundlegenden physikalischen Ansatz schon erstaunlich viel vom Erdsystem verstehen kann – über die fundamentalen Rolle von Energie und Entropie, wie Leben den Planeten verändert, aber auch zu angewandten Themen wie dem Klimawandel und warum die Photovoltaik die Technologie ist, die bei weitem den größten Beitrag zur Energiewende liefern wird.

Continue reading ““Kraftwerk Erde: Wie der belebte Planet Energie umwandelt” – Vortrag bei #FasziAstroOnline, heute Abend, 13.01.2022, 19 Uhr, live auf youtube.  Mehr Infos im Blog. @MPI_BGC @HdAstro” →

At #AGU21, we present updates on understanding diurnal temperature variations on land and on deriving precipitation sensitivities from observations using “clear-sky” temperatures and maximum power

~ annupanwar ~ Leave a comment

Corona has not yet gone away, but the AGU Fall Meeting nevertheless takes place, in a hybrid format. Annu Panwar will be physically there, giving an invited talk on her PhD thesis on diurnal temperature variations (see, e.g., her paper in HESS) and a poster, while Sarosh Alam Ghausi will be giving his poster on precipitation scaling virtually.

Continue reading “At #AGU21, we present updates on understanding diurnal temperature variations on land and on deriving precipitation sensitivities from observations using “clear-sky” temperatures and maximum power” →

Empowering the Earth system with technology: Using thermodynamics to illustrate the possibility of sustained future growth of human societies

~ Axel Kleidon ~ 6 Comments

Global warming, biodiversity loss, freshwater shortages, food crisis — there are many reasons to think that the planetary future looks rather grim for human societies.  Is there any hope that things can turn out well?  It is quite hard to remain optimistic, yet when looking at it from basic physics one can find a way forward.  In this book chapter that has just been published online I looked at the issue of sustainability and the role of technology using our thermodynamic Earth system approach.

Continue reading “Empowering the Earth system with technology: Using thermodynamics to illustrate the possibility of sustained future growth of human societies” →