NATURE AND CLIMATE, DENMARK
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COP15: SELECTED CLIMATE AND WATER RESEARCH TOPICS AT GEUS |
Learn and be entertained: Energy, water and magnificent ice
Combating climate changes and adapting to those we cannot avoid have created a need for solutions requiring GEUS know-how in areas such as geothermal energy, CO2 storage, impacts on the water cycle and leaching of nutrients and pesticides to the groundwater, flooding and developments in the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.
In connection with COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen, GEUS has selected a number of research topics related to climate change and protection of the environment and our resources.
Mitigation of global warming
Geothermal energyDenmark has a great potential for geothermal energy
Geological storage of CO2
European research on CCS technology
Adaptation to climate change
Estimating future sea level riseA new Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Climate change and water resources
The water cycle under a changes climate
Climate change and water resources
New tools for assessing future water resources
Climate change and water resources
Assessment of the effect of climate on pesticide leaching
Climate change and water resources
Climate and water resources in the North Sea region
Climate change and water resources
Groundwater and climate change: Challenges and possibilities in the Third World
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/ rapporter/groundwater_and_climate_change_071108-uk.htm
Climate change and water resources
Danish Water Solutions to a Developing World under Environmental and Climate Stress
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/globalchallenges.pdf
(Pdf file - 3MB)
Climate change and water ressources
Clivet project
Climate change and water ressources
Learn more about the BaltCICa project: Climate Change: Impacts, Corts and Adaptation in the Baltic Sea
http://www.baltcica.org/
Climate research
Articles about North Atlantic and Arctic climate researchWater research and monitoring
Web pages and articles about groundwater protection and mappingLearn about groundwater mapping and quality monitoring, pesticide monitoring and emerging contaminants.
Education and entertainment
Visit Ilulissat Icefjord - the scenic frame for the Greenland DialogueMitigation of global warming
Lots of geothermal energyGlobal climate problems call for new energy solutions which can reduce emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere. Heat from inside the Earth in the form of geothermal energy is one of the energy sources available. In Denmark, geothermal energy is exploited at plants on the island of Amager and in Thisted. Hot water is drawn up from water-bearing sandstone layers 1-3 kilometres down in the subsurface. For many years, GEUS has worked on developing geological models to describe and predict where there are geological layers in the subsurface with hot water in sufficient amounts and which can be pumped up to the surface. In 2008 this work included assessments of four reservoirs in eastern Sealand on behalf of Hovedstadsområdets Geotermiske Samarbejde (HGS). In early 2009 HGS published a new assessment showing that the geothermal reserves in eastern Sealand can satisfy 30-50 per cent of the Greater Copenhagen district heating requirement for several thousand years. The many years of survey work by GEUS has revealed that Denmark has many deep sand layers bearing hot water. In 2009 the Danish Energy Agency and GEUS will prepare a report on the extent of geothermal reservoirs as well as the opportunities and limitations of geothermics in all of Denmark.
Read article: Geothermal energy in Denmark
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 4, page 17-20
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr4/nr4_p17-20-uk.htm
CO2 storage in Europe
Capture and storage of CO2 underground is one of the methods which can be used to limit emissions of the greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. For several years now, Europe has been focusing on CCS technology (Carbon Capture & Storage) through many EU-funded, international research projects. One of these projects is GeoCapacity, which is headed by GEUS. The project was concluded in 2008 and it has established a solid foundation for assessing the use of CCS as a method of reducing CO2 emissions for all of Europe. The results include development of a standard for how to assess the storage capacity of underground reservoirs and a GIS database of large CO2 sources and storage sites in 25 European countries. There is information about CO2 emissions from industry and power plants as well as information about infrastructure such as pipelines. Finally, potential geological storage sites are described. The results in the database have already been used in connection with preparation of the proposed EU directive on geological storage of CO2. Like another EU project in which GEUS is also taking part (COACH), GeoCapacity has worked on transferring competencies within geological storage of CO2 from the EU to China. Knowledge from the research projects will be brought into play in international fora in which GEUS is represented. One of these is CO2GeoNet, a European 'Network of Excellence' which aims at enhancing Europe's scientific and technological position within CO2 storage through gathering resources and expertise. At the end of 2008 the network issued an information booklet; 'What does CO2 geological storage really mean'. The booklet contains a description of the method and answers to where it is possible to store the greenhouse gas and how, as well as information on the safety of the method. The aim of the booklet is to communicate clear and impartial scientific information to a wide public and to inspire dialogue on important issues related to the technical aspects of the method.
Learn more about the GeoCapacity project
http://nts1.cgu.cz/geocapacity
Learn more about CO2GeoNet, and download the booklet: 'What does CO2 geological storage really mean'
http://www.CO2geonet.com/
Read article: The potential for large-scale, subsurface geological CO2 storage in Denmark
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 17, page 13-16
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr17/index-uk.htm
Read article: Geological storage of CO2 - a contribution future climate policy
in popular science magazine Geologi Nyt fra GEUS nr 2, 2004
http://www.geus.dk/publications/geo-nyt-geus/geo-nyt-uk.htm
Adaptation to climate change
Monitoring the Greenland ice sheetThe rate of ice melting and icebergs calving from the Greenland ice sheet has increased significantly in recent years and the loss of ice from the large ice sheet has doubled over the past 10 years. This has caused sea level to rise, arousing concerns in many places around the world in which many people live in low-lying coastal areas. The Ministry of Climate and Energy has therefore launched a programme to monitor the ice sheet. The new monitoring programme is being headed by GEUS and focuses on what is happening along the margin of the ice sheet where mass loss from melting and calving of icebergs occur. Monitoring is being carried out at fully automatic measuring stations which measure melting, the climate and movements of the ice. Ten stations are already operational and sending data back to GEUS in Copenhagen via satellite. In 2009 the entire measurement network will have been completed with a total of 14 stations, representing seven different climate regions on the ice sheet. Glaciologists are supplementing the measurements on the surface with measurements from aircraft and satellites. In cooperation with the Technical University of Denmark, the edge of the ice is being measured from aircraft all the way around Greenland, and the movement of the ice is being monitored using satellite measurements. Measurements are also being made along 20 of the largest outflow glaciers from the ice sheet from which the majority of icebergs come. Danish monitoring is being supplemented by several foreign stations on the ice. In future, the overall international efforts will provide a more accurate picture of how much ice is melting. The project is called PROMICE - Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and it is being funded by the Danish Cooperation for Environment in Arctic (DANCEA) programme under the Ministry of Climate and Energy.
Learn more about the PROMICE project
http://promice.dk/
Read article: The Greenland ice sheet and climate – What´s happening?
in Geoviden 3, 2009, page 8-15
http://www.geus.dk/publications/geo-nyt-geus/geo-nyt-uk.htm
Read article: A new programme for monitoring the mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 15, page 61-64
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr15/index-uk.htm
The water cycle under a changed climate
GEUS has examined the effects of future climate change on the fresh water cycle. With help from the national hydrological DK-model, calculations have been made for West Jutland by using two climate scenarios from the Danish Meteorological Institute. The survey, which was carried out on behalf of the Danish Water and Waste Water Association (DANVA) and Københavns Energi, follows up on a similar national study in 2006, but this time with the incorporation of the consequences of changes in land use and increase in sea levels. Calculations show that climate change can affect the hydrological system in West Jutland significantly with large seasonal and geographical variations. The expected severe winter precipitation will result in increased groundwater levels and a significantly larger run-off into watercourses, particularly during the winter period. Furthermore, a higher sea level will result in increased groundwater levels in a zone of 2-10 kilometres from the coast. Both can result in water-logged areas or flooding, which can create problems for farmers far into the spring. The groundwater level will generally rise, but drying-out can be expected of the upper aquifers in the late summer, which may result in less run-off into watercourses in August-September. The consequences not only depend on the climate, but also on the need for field irrigation and the type of dominant crop. For example, a doubling of forests will only result in a marginal reduction in the average groundwater recharge, although it is likely that the groundwater recharge will be reduced noticeably in the late summer in areas dominated by forest. The survey has analysed isolated scenarios for changes in land use and sea level and can therefore not give answers to the exact size of the changes, but the work has identified a number of important consequences for future land-use planning and water abstraction strategy.
New tools for assessing future water resources
Calculations of the effects of climate change on the water cycle in Denmark show that Denmark can expect great changes in the distribution of water resources available to people and nature in the future. Some places will see more frequent flooding, while others will experience water shortages. A new project, HYACINTS, has started to develop better tools to assess the effects of climate change on Danish water resources, both nationally and locally. Over the next few years, the project will develop a method to couple the climate model directly with the hydrological model which calculates water flows underground and on the surface. "In the real world, the earth's surface and the atmosphere are constantly influencing each other and this is the effect we want to see built into the calculations of our water resources," said Jens Christian Refsgaard, research professor at GEUS and head of the project. The basic elements are the regional climate model, HIRHAM, from the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and GEUS' national hydrological model - the DK model. The project will also mean that the nationwide DK model can supply better calculations of water resources in small local areas. Finally, the project will produce comprehensive assessments of the uncertainties in the calculations to ensure the best possible forecasts for future water resources. HYACINTS methods and tools are expected to have export potential for the Danish water sector, and therefore the project will also develop methods to estimate precipitation conditions by using satellite data, especially in the Third World where there is often a lack of data and where the mountainous landscape greatly influences the distribution of precipitation.
The project includes participants from the University of Copenhagen, the University of Aarhus, GEUS and DMI, the GTS - Advanced Technology Group, DHI, the consulting firms Alectia Aqua and GRAS, the water companies Københavns Energi, Aarhus Kommunale Værker and Odense Vandselskab as well as Environment Centre Roskilde and Environment Centre Odense. HYACINTS (Hydrological Modelling for Assessing Climate Change Impacts at different Scales) is being funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research.
Learn more about the HYACINTS project
http://hyacints.dk/main_uk/main.html
Assessment of the effect of climate on pesticide leaching
Climate change in Denmark may have several undesirable consequences. Climate models tell us that in the future there will be more and heavier rain, and therefore we can expect more leaching of pesticides to the groundwater, lakes and watercourses. Changes in the climate are also expected to influence the choice of crops, and new varieties are expected to be introduced, requiring the use of different pesticides. This may lead to undesirable impacts from spray toxins on the aquatic environment. In order to put these climate effects into figures, GEUS has launched the PRECIOUS project in cooperation with the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Aarhus (DJF). Using scenarios for the climate of the future, choice of crop and use of pesticides, this project is to calculate changes in pesticide leaching into the aquatic environment. The work involves setting up scenarios for climate development and calculations of the fate of pesticides in the aquatic environment using different modelling tools. The assessment of the expected changes in crop choices and pesticide use will be based on studies of cultivation practices in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Changes in pesticide leaching will be calculated for two upland areas included in the Danish groundwater monitoring system. These are the Odderbæk upland in Himmerland with sandy soil, and the Lillebæk upland on Funen with clayey soil. The PRECIOUS project (Prediction of Climate Impacts on Pesticide Leaching to the Aquatic Environments) is being supported by the pesticide research programme being run by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Climate and water resources in the North Sea region
The year 2008 saw the launch of a new research project, CLIWAT, which is to evaluate the effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle in the North Sea region in order to establish a basis for planning appropriate climate adaptation in the area. Climate models have indicated that in the future we can expect more frequent flooding in the region and increasing problems because of algae growth along coastlines caused by expected increased leaching of nutrients from the groundwater to the sea. Finally, we can expect more migration of salt water into the groundwater because of increasing sea levels. Using calculations with hydrological models, the project will assess these effects for selected climate scenarios. Work includes collecting new geological and hydrological data along the cost and in the hinterland at selected areas in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. During the year researchers started setting up a hydrological model across the border between Denmark and Germany as well as collecting field data on the current nitrate load as a basis for estimating future leaching of nutrients. Researchers from GEUS are working on the project with researchers and personnel from municipalities and regions in the four countries along the North Sea. The project is being funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Learn more about the CLIWAT project
http://cliwat.eu/index.shtml
CLIVET: Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Agriculture - and Adaptation Strategies in Tanzania
CLIVET is a 5 year
capacity building project
that aims to
increase the capacity in Tanzania to project climate changes and
impacts on water resources relevant for the agricultural sector.
Learn more about the CLIVET project:
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/common/int_tz03-uk.html
Climate research
Read article: Holocene climate variability in southern Greenland: results from the Galathea 3 expeditionin Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 17, page 73-76
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr17/index-uk.htm
Read arcticle: Radical past climatic changes in the Arctic Ocean and a geophysical signature of the Lomonosov Ridge north of Greenland
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 10, page 61-64
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr10/index-uk.htm
Read article: Climatic warming: a trigger for glacial iceberg surges ('Heinrich events') in the North Atlantic?
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 7, page 53-56
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr7/nr7_p53-56-uk.htm
Learn more about the
SEDIMICE project - Linking sediments with ice-sheet response and glacier retreat in Greenland
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/nature-environment/greenland/sedimice-uk.htm
Water research and monitoring
Read article: Water supply in Denmarkhttp://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/vandforsyning_artikel.pdf (Pdf file - 9MB)
Read article: Groundwater monitoring in Denmark
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/case_groundwatermonitoring_print.pdf
(Pdf file - 1MB)
Read article: Hydrological mapping for groundwater protection in Denmark
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/case_groundwaterprotection_print.pdf
(Pdf file - 2MB)
Read article: Protection zones and land management to restore contaminated groundwater on the island of Tunø
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/case_tunoe_print.pdf
(Pdf file - 1MB)
Read article: Groundwater quality monitoring in Denmark
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 7, page 33-36
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr7/nr7_p33-36-dk.htm
Learn more about
Groundwater Monitoring in Denmark
http://www.geus.dk/publications/grundvandsovervaagning/grundvandsovervaagning-uk.htm
Learn more about the
Danish Pesticide Leaching Assessment Programme
providing an early warning of the risk of groundwater contamination when approved pesticides are used in accordance with current regulations
http://pesticidvarsling.dk/om_os_uk/uk-forside.html
Read article: Pesticide leaching in Danish groundwater: identification of vulnerable areas
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 4, page 25-28
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr4/nr4_p25-28-dk.htm
Read article: Geophysical methods and data administration in Danish groundwater mapping
in Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Survey Bulletin 17, page 41-44
http://www.geus.dk/publications/bull/nr17/index-uk.htm
Read report: Emerging contaminants in Danish groundwater
about likely contaminants of Danish groundwater not presently beeing monitored
http://www.geus.dk/program-areas/water/denmark/rapporter/geus_rap_2005_49-uk.htm
Education and entertainment
Visit the scenic frame of the Greenland DialogueThe Danish government has taken a range of initiatives to increase the focus on the necessity of an international agreement on a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. One of these is: The Greenland Dialogue. This came about as an initiative of the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Connie Hedegaard. The plan was to create a forum where the often stiff and protracted discussions under the auspices of the UN could be softened up. The idea was simple. Ministers from more than 20 countries gathered in the summer of 2005 at in Greenland in order to see with their own eyes some of the consequences of climate change.
The location was the town of Ilulissat with its magnificent icefjord. GEUS has prepared a homepage telling the stories about Ilulissat Icefjord - the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Greenland.
Explore Ilulissat Icefjord
http://www.geus.dk/viden_om/voii/ilulissat-uk/index-uk.html
Learn more about the Greenland Dialogue
http://en.cop15.dk/denmark's+efforts/climate+diplomacy
