Ulf Riebesell

Prof. Ulf Riebesell, marine biologist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and coordinator of the German research network on ocean acidification BIOACID, has been among the first scientists who investigated the effects of carbon dioxide on marine organisms. When he found out that calcifying phytoplankton, microscopic algae that play an important role for the global climate, is affected negatively, he knew: “Something big is going on here and we have to get a grasp on this.”

In this BIOACID Science Portrait, Ulf Riebesell tells you how the KOSMOS mesocosms, “giant test tubes”, help researchers to find out more about the reactions of plankton communities to ocean acidification – and what these field experiments mean to him.

“At the end of the day, it is clear we have to reduce CO2 emissions. And we do not have much time left for this. It will have to happen in the next one to two decades”, concludes the marine biologist from Kiel.