Research and society

Anthropogenic climate change is no longer a distant forecast—it is a present reality. Global average temperatures are setting new records with alarming frequency, and extreme heatwaves, droughts, storms, and heavy rainfall events are becoming more common and more intense. Climate research has demonstrated that these extreme events are becoming increasingly likely due to global warming. Whether this trend continues unabated depends largely on humanity's commitment to climate protection moving forward. Researchers from various Max Planck Institutes are not only working to improve the accuracy of climate forecasts, but are also investigating how humanity can adapt to the consequences of climate change. Their efforts focus on developing strategies to mitigate climate impacts and limit global warming to manageable levels.

The United Nations Biodiversity Convention defines biodiversity as the diversity of all living organisms, habitats and ecosystems on land, in freshwater, in the oceans and in the air. 

In Germany, animal research is primarily carried out in the areas of basic research, medicine and veterinary medicine. Animal research can also be required to identify factors that pose a risk to the environment. The toxicity of chemicals is also investigated using animal research. It is a legal requirement that all active substances are tested in animal experiments for effectiveness and side effects.

In a white paper, Christoph Rosol, Benjamin Steininger, Jürgen Renn and Robert Schlögl outline the significance of digitalization in the Anthropocene and outline the background and goals of the new research field of geoanthropology.

Gene scissors, molecular scalpel – these descriptive terms are intended to convey what the new method of gene editing with rather unwieldy name of CRISPR/Cas9 can do.

Open Access (OA) refers to a publishing and distribution model for scholarly communication that makes research information available to readers online at no cost, rather than the traditional model of charging readers for access.