World Leading Authority On Climate Change - Vancouver, One Night Only
The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) is hosting a public lecture by world-leading Swiss scientist and climate physicist Dr. Thomas Stocker on Tuesday, June 7 in downtown Vancouver.
Stocker holds one of the most prestigious assignments in the scientific world as co-chair of Working Group I of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He also heads the division of climate and environmental physics at the University of Bern, which is at the cutting edge of climate and climate impact research.
His talk, ‘Climate Change: Why do we know that we know’, will explain the physical science basis of climate change. “At a time when the public debate on global warming is rife with doubt and uninformed statements, we must remind ourselves that without the contribution of physics to climate science over many decades, the IPCC could not have concluded in 2007 that “warming in the climate system is unequivocal,” Stocker says.
Using a combination of global observations, climate process understanding and climate models, Stocker will explain how scientists detect and attribute past, as well as project future, climate change. “Using robust scientific methods is the only way we can accurately be informed about possible futures, and have the foundation for sound policy decisions as we prepare for a changing planet,” he says.
This event is an important opportunity for British Columbians to learn about the latest physical scientific discoveries, and to ask questions on the IPCC, the leading international body for assessing climate change.
Media are welcome to attend the lecture, or to request an interview with Stocker.
WHAT: Free public lecture in Vancouver by Dr. Thomas Stocker, IPCC
WHEN: 7:30 – 9 p.m., Tuesday, June 7
WHERE: Fletcher Challenge Canada Theatre (room 1900), 515 West Hastings St, SFU Harbour Centre
Live webcast: http://www.pics.uvic.ca
Biography:
Stocker was born in Zürich and obtained a PhD in natural sciences from ETH Zürich in 1987. His research positions include: the University College London, McGill University, Columbia University and the University of Hawaii. Since 1993 Stocker has been Professor of Climate and Environmental Physics at the University of Bern. His research encompasses the development of climate models of intermediate complexity, modelling past and future climate change and the reconstruction of the chemical composition of precipitation and greenhouse gas concentrations based on ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers in the area of climate dynamics and paleoclimate modeling and reconstruction, and was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Versailles in 2006 and the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union in 2009. Working Group I provides the physical science basis of the IPCC’s work. In the 10 years leading up to his appointment as co-chair in 2008, Stocker was a major contributor to the IPCC, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
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