Atmosphere and Societies

The research field Atmosphere and Societies is intended to develop and strengthen cooperation within the InTRES platform for Integrative and Transformative Research on Earth and Societies and beyond which, on the one hand, takes into account humans as both the cause of and those affected by changes in the atmospheric system and, on the other hand, conducts basic scientific research on coupling mechanisms between all layers of the atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere) and with the other climate components (such as the ocean, biosphere, space, and sun). To this end, existing expertise in climate impact research, atmospheric research, health research, and social sciences will be provided a platform to strengthen collaboration.

Even though anthropogenic global warming is well understood as an atmospheric process (greenhouse effect due to excess CO2), the feedback loops with other climate components and a changing society are highly complex, thus there is a great need for action in both modelling and data analysis. Successful investigations require multi-disciplinary approaches, bringing together atmospheric sciences with geography, medicine, and social sciences.

The role of the atmosphere as a transboundary transport medium for air pollutants or in exchange processes between the terrestrial and marine biospheres must also be investigated more closely in a changing Earth system.

Ultimately, this field of research aims to improve our understanding of the multi-layered atmosphere, which is simultaneously affected by various environmental stresses, as an immediate habitat in the overall context of the Earth system in order to develop better integrated future scenarios and to propose solutions for sustainable use.