Thomas Frölicher
froeltho.bsky.social
Thomas Frölicher
@froeltho.bsky.social

Professor in Climate and Environmental Physics @unibern, Lead Author @IPCC_CH SROCC, Views are my own

Environmental science 52%
Geography 19%

Netflix schauen, Tropenfrüchte essen, Billigmode tragen – die meisten Treibhausgas-Emissionen entstehen durch importierte Güter und Dienstleistungen. Eine Tagung an der Universität Bern rückt diese «grauen Emissionen» ins Zentrum. Donnerstag, 30. Oktober.
www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch/2025/klimasc...
Klimaschutz im Graubereich
Netflix schauen, Tropenfrüchte essen, Billigmode tragen – die meisten Treibhausgas-Emissionen entstehen durch importierte Güter und Dienstleistungen. Eine Tagung an der Universität Bern rückt diese «g...
www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch

By linking Antarctic sea ice, cloud cover, deep ocean temperatures, and global warming, our new study led by @linusvogt.bsky.social finds that ocean heat uptake and thermal sea level rise by 2100 could be 3–14% higher, and global surface warming 3–7% greater than previously thought👇
🚨🌊 New highlight paper out today in Earth System Dynamics!

We find an observational constraint implying more future global ocean heat uptake, cloud feedback, and warming than the CMIP6 mean.

This contrasts with previous estimates based on past warming trends.

🔗 esd.copernicus.org/articles/16/...
Increased future ocean heat uptake constrained by Antarctic sea ice extent
Abstract. The ocean takes up over 90 % of the excess heat stored in the Earth system as a result of anthropogenic climate change, which has led to sea level rise and an intensification of marine extre...
esd.copernicus.org
🚨🌊 New highlight paper out today in Earth System Dynamics!

We find an observational constraint implying more future global ocean heat uptake, cloud feedback, and warming than the CMIP6 mean.

This contrasts with previous estimates based on past warming trends.

🔗 esd.copernicus.org/articles/16/...
Increased future ocean heat uptake constrained by Antarctic sea ice extent
Abstract. The ocean takes up over 90 % of the excess heat stored in the Earth system as a result of anthropogenic climate change, which has led to sea level rise and an intensification of marine extre...
esd.copernicus.org
You can still apply!
If you know someone who might be interested, tell her or him about this! 🌊
Here‘s a rare and excellent career opportunity for outstanding physical oceanographers at the Potsdam Institute (PIK) and the University of Potsdam, in beautiful surroundings just outside Berlin. Tell qualified friends or colleagues! 🌊
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Full Professorship (W3) for Physics of the Oceans - Potsdam-Mittelmark, Brandenburg (DE) job with Universität Potsdam | 12844582
Founded in 1991, the University of Potsdam has firmly established itself in the scientific landscape and has become an outstanding economic factor ...
www.nature.com
The massive extreme marine heatwave continues to stretch across the entire northern Pacific Ocean. In fact, the magnitude of the sea surface temperature anomalies even grew in August 2025 compared to earlier in the summer. Yikes... 🫠

Data from OISSTv2.1 (psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...). 🌊

🌊 Nacht der Forschung 2025 | University of Bern 🌊
What a fantastic evening! Thank you to the entire ocean modeling team and friends for their incredible effort. For one night, the Kuppelraum transformed into a "true" ocean, full of energy, visited by many, and filled with inspiring conversations.
Here‘s a rare and excellent career opportunity for outstanding physical oceanographers at the Potsdam Institute (PIK) and the University of Potsdam, in beautiful surroundings just outside Berlin. Tell qualified friends or colleagues! 🌊
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Full Professorship (W3) for Physics of the Oceans - Potsdam-Mittelmark, Brandenburg (DE) job with Universität Potsdam | 12844582
Founded in 1991, the University of Potsdam has firmly established itself in the scientific landscape and has become an outstanding economic factor ...
www.nature.com
Der Weltklimarat ‪@ipcc.bsky.social‬ hat Thomas Frölicher #unibern zum Koordinierenden Leitautor der Arbeitsgruppe I des nächsten Weltklimaberichts ernannt. Er leitet das Kapitel über #Kipppunkte im Erdsystem. Mehr über seine Forschung: www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch/2025/uno_oze....
@froeltho.bsky.social
🚨 Our latest paper on how #climatechange will affect the distribution of shared fish stocks like #tuna and #billfishes across international borders is out now! 🐟🌍

Read the #OpenAccess article & IOF story below 👇

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
New study by @rrrocean.bsky.social, @froeltho.bsky.social et al. shows that the co-occurrence of #MarineHeatwaves with extremes of high #acidity and low #chlorophyll concentrations increased dramatically over the past two decades in the equatorial and #SouthAtlantic.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Extreme compound events in the equatorial and South Atlantic - Nature Communications
The co-occurrence of marine heatwaves with extremes of high acidity and low chlorophyll concentrations has increased dramatically over the past two decades in the equatorial and South Atlantic. El Niñ...
www.nature.com
🏔️🌍🌎🌏 New study warns: Even if we only temporarily exceed 1.5 °C, mountain glaciers face irreversible losses lasting centuries. Such an overshoot reduces glacier runoff, specifically in regions where some glaciers regrow.

Further interested? Check out our new publication: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Irreversible glacier change and trough water for centuries after overshooting 1.5 °C - Nature Climate Change
How mountain glaciers will react to temporarily overshooting 1.5 °C of warming is poorly understood. Here the authors show irreversible global glacier loss for centuries after overshoot, implying long...
doi.org
8 Jahre, 8 #Hitzerekorde im #Ozean – 2025 dürfte der nächste folgen. Klimaforscher Thomas Frölicher erklärt, warum das auch die #Schweiz betrifft und wo dennoch Hoffnung besteht: www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch/2025/uno_oze....

@froeltho.bsky.social

Have you ever wondered why a landlocked country like Switzerland should care about the health of the ocean? Check out our new 2-pager👇

Frölicher, T., & Jaccard, S. (2025). Why Switzerland Needs a Healthy Ocean: Global Interdependence and National Responsibility. Zenodo. lnkd.in/eMp5hN5d

Thank you, David!
New work by Lester Kwiatkowski and colleagues suggests that the reduction in coral reef calcification due to climate change may end up enhancing the ocean carbon sink by up to 1.25 Gt CO2 yr-1 by mid century (by even more by 2300) 🌊

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
‼️ Please disseminate widely: the manifesto of the One Ocean Science Congress #OOSC is open for digital signature:
forms.ifremer.fr/pdg/oosc-man...

#ScienceForTheOcean 🌊
My co-chair François Houllier and I are delighted with this resounding success, after 2 years of preparation and many hurdles to overcome.

The recommendations will be presented to Heads of State and Governments tomorrow, the day before #UNOC starts.

#OOSC #ScienceForTheOcean
A large number of products are available here: kdrive.infomaniak.com/app/share/20...
- Recommendations to Heads of State and Governments, summary in 6 UN languages
- Urgent call for coral reefs
- Policy brief "Knowledge for a thriving ocean"
- Manifesto
- Correspondence on US federal cuts 🌊
#OOSC

The One Ocean Science Congress has started! Exciting four days ahead #OOSC25

Our new paper authored by the Scientific Committee of the
#OOSC on "US federal cuts threaten international ocean science and diplomacy" has been published. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
US federal cuts threaten international ocean science and diplomacy - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution - US federal cuts threaten international ocean science and diplomacy
www.nature.com
This is phenomenal.

Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.

It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
#standupforscience2025. The sidewalk open house and NASA GISS swag giveaway is on at 2880 Broadway NY NY til 4 pm ET. Photos from a NASA scientist. 🌎🧪 matters.

I also can‘t see any indication at the moment that this would be temporary.

New study led by @lilianschuster.bsky.social finds that temporarily overshooting +1.5°C leads to irreversible glacier loss and long-term changes in water runoff. Some fast-responding glaciers may regrow, but this could lead to water scarcity centuries later, a phenomenon called ‘trough water’.👇
🏔️🌍🌎🌏 New study warns: Even if we only temporarily exceed 1.5 °C, mountain glaciers face irreversible losses lasting centuries. Such an overshoot reduces glacier runoff, specifically in regions where some glaciers regrow.

Further interested? Check out our new publication: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Irreversible glacier change and trough water for centuries after overshooting 1.5 °C - Nature Climate Change
How mountain glaciers will react to temporarily overshooting 1.5 °C of warming is poorly understood. Here the authors show irreversible global glacier loss for centuries after overshoot, implying long...
doi.org

Sixty-six percent of the entire planet is deep ocean (≥200 m), and a new study shows that less than 0.001%, a total area approximately a tenth of the size of 🇨🇭 has been visualized observed. There is soooo much to be discovered! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How little we’ve seen: A visual coverage estimate of the deep seafloor
In decades of deep-sea exploration, humans have observed only 0.001% of the deep seafloor, leaving 66% of planet Earth unseen.
www.science.org

Really enjoyed the discussion on communicating tipping points at NASA GISS! It’s a tough topic, but I agree with the panel—we can do better than we have so far. Thanks for organizing it @aromanou.bsky.social and colleagues!

Compound events in the (subsurface) ocean and how they change under climate change. 👇
🌊🔥 Marine heatwaves often do not occur in isolation—they frequently coincide with extreme conditions in ocean acidity and oxygen levels.

In our new paper, we assess the distribution and projected changes of these compound ocean extremes within the top 2000 meters of the ocean.
Surface and Subsurface Compound Marine Heatwave and Biogeochemical Extremes Under Climate Change
Extreme conditions in temperature, acidity and oxygen frequently coincide at the sea surface and in large parts of the subsurface ocean Subsurface compound events are often linked to vertical wat...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
🌊🔥 Marine heatwaves often do not occur in isolation—they frequently coincide with extreme conditions in ocean acidity and oxygen levels.

In our new paper, we assess the distribution and projected changes of these compound ocean extremes within the top 2000 meters of the ocean.
Surface and Subsurface Compound Marine Heatwave and Biogeochemical Extremes Under Climate Change
Extreme conditions in temperature, acidity and oxygen frequently coincide at the sea surface and in large parts of the subsurface ocean Subsurface compound events are often linked to vertical wat...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Am 29. April sprechen Alexander Proelss und Thomas Frölicher über „Meeres-Wissenschaften und Internationales Recht im Klimawandel“.

🗓️ 29. April | 🕓 16:15–17:45
📍 Hörsaal 001, Kollegienhaus, Universität Basel
Here a new point of view on the response of the global ocean to climate change.

In short: we cannot separate temperature from the rest when we look at trends in the dynamics.

It is just a starting point. With the great Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A dynamical geography of observed trends in the global ocean
An empirical analysis of upper ocean physics reveals the factors that shape the seascape evolution in response to global warming.
www.science.org