Hans von Storch

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Hans von Storch (2019)
Interview by Holger Klein with von Storch about his research

Hans von Storch (born August 13, 1949 in Wyk auf Föhr ) is a German climate researcher and meteorologist . He is professor at the Institute for Meteorology at the University of Hamburg and former head of the “Institute for Coastal Research” at the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht - Center for Materials and Coastal Research in Geesthacht .

academic career

Storch studied mathematics , physics and Danish at the University of Hamburg. In 1976 he received his diploma in mathematics, followed in 1979 with a doctorate in meteorology with the dissertation "Numerical filters for damping meteorological noise in hemispherical models". In 1985 he received his habilitation . From 1980 to 1985 he worked at the Institute for Meteorology at the University of Hamburg and between 1986 and 1995 he was head of the “Statistical Analysis and Modeling” group at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology . Since 1996 he has been professor at the Institute for Meteorology at the University of Hamburg and director of the “Institute for Coastal Research” at the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht - Center for Materials and Coastal Research in Geesthacht . In 2008 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg . He is an external member of the Polish Academy of Sciences .

Position on global warming

Von Storch assumes the existence of a mainly human-made climate change . In his opinion, climate research is sometimes lacking in sustainability . Scientists and scientific institutions should create knowledge . If instead they tried to push through a political agenda in the name of good with simplified and dramatizing statements - similar to pressure groups - they would jeopardize the longer-term success of their work. Anyone who calls coal-fired power plants as death factories risked a similar loss of credibility in the event of climate change, as happened in the case of the so-called forest dieback after 1990. Overselling leads to impossible political targets, reduces public awareness and risks the loss of credibility for scientists due to exaggerated or incorrect predictions. Similar to Roger A. Pielke senior and Roger A. Pielke junior , von Storch emphasized in 2009 the importance of regional risk assessments compared to global approaches. He feared that the “climate fear hype” would in future no longer take the topic seriously as such, but would instead be instrumentalized for the omnipresent regulation of almost all areas of life.

After the hacking incident at the University of East Anglia's climate research center in 2009, he criticized the blog Realclimate as the "mouthpiece of the cartel that represents the hockey stick diagram " and "modern central organ". He himself ran a blog called "Die Klimazwiebel".

According to Stefan Rahmstorf, von Storch uses ad hominem attacks when he accuses his colleagues of “alarmism” and political or financial motives. In addition, he accused von Storch of a “statistical fallacy” in 2013 with regard to the pause in global warming he described by only considering the period since 1998, whereby 1998 was an “extreme outlier”.

On February 25, 2013, the book Die Klimafalle: The dangerous proximity of politics and climate research , which Hans von Storch had written together with the ethnologist Werner Krauss , was published. The book was reviewed by several newspapers, including the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Badische Zeitung . In his review for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ulf von Rauchhaupt wrote that the book was “no edifying reading for 'climate skeptics'”. Andreas Frey wrote about the book for the Badische Zeitung:

“One of the two main allegations is that many climate scientists are too alarmist. They would only show us the horror of global warming, draw disaster scenarios, conjure up, exaggerate and dramatize the apocalypse. 'The communication strategy of the past two decades consisted essentially of describing the possible dramatic consequences of man-made climate change,' says Hans von Storch. "

Von Storch was disappointed with the Fridays for Future movement , as, in his view, it only makes demands without thinking about the complexity of their implementation. He stressed the need for global efforts to achieve the 1.5 degree target . He considers the development of climate-neutral and economically favorable technology to be the most effective method. Von Storch, however, considers the possible contribution of the individual to be limited. In addition to symbolic acts, the "best effort a German family can make to protect the climate [...] is to persuade their children to become engineers."

Donaldism

Von Storch was editor of the magazine " Der Hamburger Donaldist " from 1976 to 1985 and in 1977 co-founder of DONALD ( German organization of non-commercial supporters of pure Donaldism ), which deals with research into (fictional) life in Duckburg . He is an honorary member of the association. In earlier years he also worked on building a "duck museum".

Private

Hans von Storch comes from the noble family von Storch, who were formerly wealthy in the Rostock district . He was married to Angelika Pfaff from 1972 to 1990, with whom he has two sons. He has been married to the meteorologist Jin-Song von Storch since 1990.

Beatrix von Storch ( AfD ) married into the family in 2010 by marrying his nephew Sven von Storch .

Awards

literature

  • Hans von Storch and Werner Krauss: The climate trap: The dangerous proximity of politics and climate research . Hanser Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-446-43507-0 .
  • Eckart Sackmann : Interview with Hans von Storch. In: Klaus Strzyz and Andreas C. Knigge : Disney from the inside. Talks about the empire of the mouse . (With a foreword by Carl Barks ). Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-548-36551-5 .

Web links

Commons : Hans von Storch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Resonator podcast of the Helmholtz Association : Coastal researcher Hans von Storch (episode 19, November 15, 2013)
  2. ↑ a b c d European Academy Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler : Professor Hans von Storch: Climate Research and Climate Policy , from April 29, 2010, accessed on December 21, 2013
  3. ↑ German National Library: Numerical filters for damping meteorological noise in hemispherical models / by Hans von Storch , accessed on December 21, 2013
  4. ↑ a b c d Center for Globalization and Governance (CGG): Curriculum Vitae: Prof. Dr. Hans von Storch ( memento of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 21, 2013
  5. ↑ Ina Matthes: Interview with Hans von Storch: "I'm not afraid of climate change" , MOZ from March 31, 2014, accessed on December 3, 2014
  6. ↑ Hans von Storch: The Sustainability of Climate Science , guest post on the blog by Roger A. Pielke jr. , December 5, 2009, accessed December 21, 2013.
  7. ^ Hans von Storch: Klimawandel-Essay: Am Ende des Alarmismus , Spiegel Online, March 22, 2009, accessed on December 21, 2013.
  8. ^ Dpa announcement: Skeptics versus alarmists - Climate fight on the net , Focus, December 8, 2009, accessed on December 21, 2013.
  9. ↑ Stefan Rahmstorf: How about factual arguments? , Handelsblatt, December 14, 2009, accessed December 21, 2013.
  10. ↑ Stefan Rahmstorf: Can random number generators explain dice results? , November 16, 2013, accessed December 21, 2013.
  11. ↑ Sven Titz: Two researchers complain about the politicization of climate research , NZZ, February 25, 2013, accessed on December 21, 2013.
  12. ↑ Ulf von Rauchhaupt: Science is not a continuation of politics by other means , FAZ, March 6, 2013, accessed on December 21, 2013.
  13. ↑ Andreas Frey: Can we still be saved? , Badische Zeitung, February 23, 2013, accessed on December 21, 2013.
  14. ^ Professor disillusioned with climate activists: "These are naive, immature empty phrases". Focus Online, November 2, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Von Storch vs. Von Storch: "Our family does not have an authoritarian tradition" . On: Spiegel Online , April 13, 2016. Accessed July 9, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Storch, Hans von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German climate researcher and meteorologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Wyk on Föhr