Top Five Questions in Each Category
Biodiversity
- How does mankind, responsible for climatic and other anthropogenic changes including geo-political and cultural processes, interact with biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide?
- What factors determine the resilience of the full set of interacting ecosystem services that support human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing environment?
- How will permafrost affect and be affected by global environmental change?
- What are the global impacts (socio, economic, others) of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation?
- What is the role of land-use change for the present, past, and future evolution of the Earth?
- More Biodiversity
Climate
- What is the exact sensitivity of the climate system to changing greenhouse gas, dust and aerosol loading in the atmosphere?
- Do climate and biogeochemical models simulate past changes well enough that we can have confidence in their ability to tell us the effects of different options for the future?
- What is the potential level of positive feedback that may come with the release of methane in the permafrost regions and continental shelves?
- What will be the contribution to sea level rise of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica over the coming century?
- What are the spatial and temporal characteristics of natural climate variability?
- More Climate
Earth System
- How will the global water cycle evolve in response to global warming?
- Which is the space weather for tomorrow?
- What factors determine the resilience of the full set of interacting ecosystem services that support human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing environment?
- How will permafrost affect and be affected by global environmental change?
- What is the role of land-use change for the present, past, and future evolution of the Earth?
- More Earth System
Human Health
- Which is the space weather for tomorrow?
- How can the human population explosion be curbed?
- How can research help address the vicious circle of environmental change, resource scarcity, poverty, and poor health?
- How long can the Earth System sustain the present rate of human-induced global-environmental change?
- How can we boost agricultural output and improve rural livelihoods in the developing world (especially sub-Saharan Africa) without attendant land/forest degradation and resultant biodiversity loss?
- More Human Health
Interdisciplinary
- How does mankind, responsible for climatic and other anthropogenic changes including geo-political and cultural processes, interact with biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide?
- What factors determine the resilience of the full set of interacting ecosystem services that support human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing environment?
- How will permafrost affect and be affected by global environmental change?
- What are the global impacts (socio, economic, others) of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation?
- How can we effectively modify the dangerous human striving for more and more?
- More Interdisciplinary
Other
- How will permafrost affect and be affected by global environmental change?
- How can we effectively modify the dangerous human striving for more and more?
- Can we quantify uncertainties in complex models of the complete Earth System?
- What are the key regional drivers of future climate change?
- How can we utilize existing biodiversity data to create a computer-based system to reflect pressures on the environment on an ongoing basis?
- More Other
Social Science
- How can we effectively modify the dangerous human striving for more and more?
- How can the human population explosion be curbed?
- Can we quantify uncertainties in complex models of the complete Earth System?
- How will humanity manage peak oil and climate change impacts and promote an ordered and gradual transition to low carbon economies?
- What are the levels of sustainable development within each country and can these levels be quantified and compared to other countries?
- More Social Science
Social-Ecological Systems
- How does mankind, responsible for climatic and other anthropogenic changes including geo-political and cultural processes, interact with biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide?
- How will the global water cycle evolve in response to global warming?
- What factors determine the resilience of the full set of interacting ecosystem services that support human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing environment?
- What are the global impacts (socio, economic, others) of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation?
- How can the human population explosion be curbed?
- More Social-Ecological Systems
