idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instanz:
Teilen: 
13.10.2025 10:56

University of Bremen Involved in Research on Carbon Balance of Congo Basin

Christina Selzer Hochschulkommunikation und -marketing
Universität Bremen

    The Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP) is participating in a new project to measure carbon. The project is investigating the impact of certain processes such as deforestation, reforestation, and the preservation of intact forests on the carbon cycle in the Central African Congo Basin.

    “CO₂ emissions are fundamentally changing our planet and contributing to global warming,” says Professor Hartmut Bösch, environmental physicist at the University of Bremen. “In order to develop effective climate protection measures and accurately assess their success, we need more precise data on the carbon cycle and a better understanding of how different ecosystems on Earth respond to climate change.”

    Tropical rainforests play a central role as carbon sinks. However, carbon flows into and out of these forests are still very uncertain, particularly due to deforestation and progressive global warming. Nowhere are these uncertainties greater than in the Central African Congo Basin, the second-largest tropical rainforest area in the world.

    New Institute Seeks to Shed Light on Global Carbon Cycle

    As part of the newly founded Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle (VICC), the philanthropic organization Schmidt Sciences is providing 45 million US dollars to close fundamental knowledge gaps in the global carbon cycle.

    The funding program supports four international research teams. One of these teams, Congo-Flex, brings together world-leading experts in the fields of the carbon cycle, Earth observation, and Central African ecosystems. The aim is to fundamentally improve our understanding of the role of the Congo Basin in the global carbon cycle. For the first time, a comprehensive, data-driven estimate of the net carbon flux in the Congo Basin will be made directly on site.

    The study will examine how various processes - such as deforestation, reforestation, and the preservation of intact forests - contribute to the region's total net carbon flux.

    Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP) at the University of Bremen are playing a key role in setting up innovative measuring stations to record atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in the Central African Congo Basin. These measuring stations provide crucial data for regional estimates of carbon flows and serve to validate important satellite-based observations.


    Wissenschaftliche Ansprechpartner:

    Prof. Dr. Hartmut Bösch
    Faculty of Physics / Electrical Engineering
    Institute of Environmental Physics
    University of Bremen
    Phone: +49 421 218-62777
    Email: hboesch@uni-bremen.de


    Weitere Informationen:

    https://Link to the Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle (VICC): https://www.schmidtsciences.org/vicc/


    Bilder

    The photo shows a measuring tower in the Congo Basin that is used as part of the project
    The photo shows a measuring tower in the Congo Basin that is used as part of the project
    Quelle: Fiston Wasanga HQ/CongoFlux
    Copyright: Fiston Wasanga HQ/CongoFlux


    Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
    Journalisten
    Elektrotechnik, Umwelt / Ökologie
    überregional
    Forschungsprojekte, Kooperationen
    Englisch


     

    The photo shows a measuring tower in the Congo Basin that is used as part of the project


    Zum Download

    x

    Hilfe

    Die Suche / Erweiterte Suche im idw-Archiv
    Verknüpfungen

    Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.

    Klammern

    Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).

    Wortgruppen

    Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.

    Auswahlkriterien

    Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).

    Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).