Lecture: Climate Change: evidence, mechanisms and magnitudes
Speaker:
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
Climate models are our best hope of predicting and managing climate change. The climate is an enormously complex system, fuelled by solar energy and involving interactions between the atmosphere, land and oceans. Computer climate models, developed over the past 50 years, are probably the most complex in all of science and have already proved their worth with startling success in simulating the past climate changes. Although very much a multidisciplinary field, climate modelling is rooted in the physics of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, and physicists worldwide are collaborating to improve these models by better representing physical processes in the climate system. The talk will provide an overview of the processes that are involved in this fascinating subject which will provide valuable insights into the nature and changes that are preserved in the Earth’s geological record.
About the Speaker: Adam Scaife is both a Professor of applied mathematics at Exeter University and head of long range prediction at the Met Office. His experience in climate modelling stretches back over 30 years and his work has helped to clarify what caused changes in European climate from the cold blocked winters in the 1960s to the mild wet winters of the 1990s, the effects of El Niño, the stratosphere, solar variability and annual changes in tropical rainfall. Recent work has also demonstrated long range predictability of fluctuations in the Earth’s rotation rate. Adam has received been honoured with a number of awards from meteorological societies world-wide but most important of all (to us) has a keen interest in geology!
Attending via Zoom
This is a hybrid meeting: you can attend in person or join online via Zoom.
Bath Geological Society Members: Free of charge. Joining instructions and the Zoom link are sent to members by email prior to the lecture.
Visitors & Non-Members: (including members of the Geologists' Association and affiliated societies) Please book via Eventbrite to receive Zoom access (see the Entry Fee details above).
How to join: Click the Zoom link provided in your email or Eventbrite confirmation. You can join using the Zoom desktop or mobile app, or directly via your web browser without installing any software. The virtual waiting room opens approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, and attendees will be admitted before the talk commences.
For any queries about joining online, please contact [email protected].