Richard Honrath Memorial Lecture and Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar, Monday, Oct. 1 at 4:00 pm at M&M U115:
Dr. Guy Brasseur, German Climate Service Center and the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
Title: “From Climate Science to Earth System Stewardship”
Over the last 30 years, tremendous progress has been made in our
understanding of the processes that govern the evolution of the Earth
System and specifically the climate system. The influence of the human
enterprise has been so large that we are entering in a new period of our
geological history dominated by human impacts, now called the
Anthropocene. The talk will review some of the major impacts of human
activities on the Earth System. It will highlight key challenges that
have been posed to the scientific community in the last century
(predicting weather, projecting climate, improving air quality, etc.),
and discuss successes and failures. The challenges for the future are
very different; they will be directly related to the major issues facing
our society under climate change: a transformation of the energy system,
the need to ensure food security and water availability, the improvement
of the health and education systems and the eradication of poverty.
Government and international organizations have attempted to address a
number of major environmental issues, but successes have been limited.
Planetary stewardship requires new interdisciplinary approaches, two-way
communication between scientists and stakeholders. The science will play
a fundamental role in addressing these issues, but the traditional
climate and environmental research much be complemented by a well
designed approach to adaptation to planetary changes.
The Lecture is supported by the Earth Planetary and Space Sciences
Institute (EPSSI) and the Honrath Memorial Fund. The fund provides
support for the Richard E. Honrath Memorial Lecture and for
undergraduate and graduate students whose major and/or research
demonstrate a commitment to protecting the environment and/or the
pursuit of knowledge about our earth’s natural forces. Lecturers are
internationally recognized scholars in the arena of Atmospheric
Sciences who will interact substantially with students during their
visit.