Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
Recent climate science suggests our future looks dire. Most relevant observed trends - in greenhouse-gas emissions, global and regional warming, sea-ice loss and sea-level rise - are in the upper range of projections. Despite a worldwide political consensus to limit global average temperature rise to less than 2 degrees celsius, the collective effect of current national measures will lead to average warming of up to 4 degrees by the end of this century. Climate change now threatens to disrupt the Earth’s systems in ways that are beyond all human experience.
Professor Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber is the Chair of the German Government’s Advisory Council on Global Change and was Chief Government Advisor on Climate and Related Issues during Germany’s EU Council Presidency and G8 Presidency. He is Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Potsdam and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany.