Press releases

Ulrich Pöschl, director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, and Hang Su, director at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, jointly received the Fissan-Pui-TSI Award 2026. The award, presented every four years, recognizes outstanding international collaboration in the field of aerosol research. more

Fossil plankton shells show that three million years ago, under warmer climate, nitrogen fixation was reduced more

Isotope analyses of corals show that 60 to 80 percent of the nitrogen comes from the Mississippi River basin. more

The effects of temperature on the chemical composition, volatility and diffusivity of condensable organic vapors largely cancel each other out. This effectively buffers the rate at which new aerosol particles grow in the atmosphere. more

To support political decisions, the Global Fire Monitoring Center at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University of Freiburg is presenting a position paper with a reassessment of landscape fires in Germany, combined with a recommendation for an interdisciplinary national standing climate conference. more

Researchers have developed a method to reconstruct past seawater temperatures from rhodoliths.  more

First high-resolution global exposure map shows about half of the excess deaths from ultrafine particle pollution are due to cardiovascular disease. more

Comprehensive aircraft measurements reveal that methane emissions from Amazon wetlands are significantly higher than previously estimated. more

The El Niño drought and heat suppress the capacity of the Amazon rainforest soil to absorb isoprene by a factor of four, while boosting its amount around the forest canopy. more

New study by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry shows: The forest chemically adapts to extreme drought – and continues responding long after the stress ends. more

In response to rising and volatile fossil fuel prices, accelerated deployment of renewable forms of energy to achieve carbon neutrality is expected to benefit not only the climate but also provide substantial air quality, health and economic co-benefits. more

Jonathan Williams has been honored by the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for his pioneering work in the field of volatile organic compounds and their significance in atmospheric chemistry. more

A hidden mechanism continuously forms new aerosol particles from gaseous precursors in the Amazon rainforest, challenging previous assumptions about the sources of cloud condensation nuclei and their role in the hydrological cycle and climate. more

New collaborations focus on synthetic biochemistry and the interactions between air pollution, extreme weather, and climate more

Satellite measurements suggest that scientific and government reports don’t capture how methane emissions are rising, which could hamper mitigation efforts. more

Dogs leave their mark not only on the floor but also in the air: they alter the composition of their surroundings, from gases and particles to microorganisms.
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New class of water-soluble proteins opens up applications in freezing technology more

The SANAT flight campaign investigated the origin and transport of aerosols in the Antarctic atmosphere that cause the formation of clouds – for the first time also far inland
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The director of the Climate Geochemistry Department will assume the honorary chairmanship of the RNE. more

Ice-sheet melt temporarily intensified Southern Ocean stratification more