New Information Platform on Earth and Environment

The impact of climate change, the early detection and protection against geological natural hazards and weather-related extreme events as well as the dissemination of toxic substances in the environment are huge challenges for our society. These complex tasks often call for interdisciplinary and joint-overarching collaboration for example, diverse scientific expertise needs to be merged when generating of a first general overview of the situation after a natural disaster.

This also holds true for the slowly advancing processes that go hand in hand with climate change and which entail various outcomes such as an altered risk of storm tides at the North See. Here too, correlations and consequences can only be sufficiently explained through a holistic approach and the bundling of expert knowledge.

ESKP is an information pool and a focal point for the general public. The existing knowledge of the Helmholtz-Centres participating in ESKP will be made available for the respective target groups (including public authorities, politics, decision makers, press, and the general population). The broad supply of information includes texts, interviews, real-time data, graphics, photographs and film material. References to peer-reviewed publications but also to general brochures complete the range of material on offer. Experts from the respective centres are also available to answer any further questions.

The project is coordinated by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht — Centre for Materials and Coastal Research (HZG). In addition, the following centres are also taking part in the Helmholtz Knowledge Platform “Earth and Environment”: The Alfred-Wegener-Institute — Helmholtz-Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the Research Centre Jülich (FZJ), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research –UFZ.