Friedhelm von Blanckenburg will hold this year's lecture at the Einsteintag of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BBAW) in Potsdam's Nicolai-Saal. The geochemist from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences shall address the question of which geological mechanisms regulate the Earth's temperature in such a way that life has been able to develop and maintain itself over billions of years. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth would be an icy chunk of rock, and with a self-reinforcing greenhouse effect (run-away greenhouse effect), our planet would turn into an uninhabitable hell like Venus.

So what regulates the temperature? In the long run, chemical reactions on the Earth's surface play a central role: As the temperature rises, the weathering of the rocks increases, which reduces the greenhouse effect and cools down the atmosphere. Today, however, human greenhouse gas emissions are clearly noticeable and heat up the Earth.

The lecture is titled "Warum unser Planet blau ist - die geologische Temperaturregelung der Erde" and will be held on November 29th at 19:00. The entry is free, a registration is however recommended:
festsitzung@bbaw.de

Friedhelm von Blanckenburg is Head of the Section Geochemistry of the Earth's Surface at GFZ and is Professor at the Freie Universität Berlin. He has been a full member of the BBAW since 2015. (jz)

Further information:

• More information on the 'Einsteintag' of the Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften