COP21 Paris: All Hands on Deck for the next 20 years.

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Anji Seth

“Welcome to those who are working to save our planet”

“Later will be too late”

“We can’t tell our children we didn’t know”

“The world is in our hands”

“7 Billion people, one planet”

 

IMG_4353 (1)Billboards across Paris,  in Charles DeGalle airport, in metro stations, and on historic buildings, reminded us constantly why we were there. Our group of 12 students and 6 faculty/staff from UConn were on a mission to learn about and participate in the historic events taking place, as UN Envoys and negotiators work on an international agreement that would limit global warming to [2C][1.5C]*.  This is the 21st UN Conference of the Parties, or COP21.

IMG_4241More than 20 years ago the United Nations agreed to “talk” about Global Warming. The road to Paris has been long and the stars are now aligning for an international agreement to “act”.  The scientific evidence is overwhelming and indisputable, global leaders have been educated and show some understanding of the threats to nations, people and ecosystems, and people across the planet are calling for action.  Clearly those who deny the science are on the wrong side of history.  The final agreement to act from the Paris 2015 COP21 will not be perfect, there should be a review process in place to further reduce emissions over time, but the agreement will be a starting point for action over the next 20 years.

IMG_4250We travelled to Paris with a 12 students from across the UConn colleges, each passionate about their discipline and the global context in which they will make their marks. During the last 20 years global warming has been in the realms of climate-related sciences, economics and policy, the next 20 years there will be a role for everyone.

Implementation of the Paris agreement will require artists and engineers, teachers and health professionals, ecologists, attorneys and business leaders.  The careers of UConn students will follow the implementation of the Paris agreement over the next 20+ years.  Today’s students will be in the driver’s seat for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing carbon pricing, adapting local infrastructure, and assisting ecosystems in need.

These are exciting times.  Let’s get to work.

*[brackets] indicate items under negotiation.

 

Anji Seth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography with expertise in climate science. See http://climate.lab.uconn.edu

Spring 2016 Geography 4098: Paris 2015 Climate Conference Debrief

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I will be instructing a variable topics course in the spring to discuss outcomes from the Paris 2015 Climate Conference. Questions? Send me an e-mail <anji.seth@uconn.edu>.

GEOG 4098 Variable Topics:
The UN COP21 Paris 2015 Climate Conference Debrief
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: none
Recommended preparation: GEOG 2300 or equivalent
CLAS 446 W 4-6:30pm (time/location may be adjusted after first class)

In December 2015, UConn is sending a delegation of students [Apply now at Paris Application, deadline Oct 9] and faculty to the Paris 2015 Climate Conference (COP21) to join the expected 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.

Professor Seth, a faculty co-Chair of the UConn COP21 delegation, will instruct this one-time course, informed by the experience of the delegation, with guest lectures and readings designed to help us unpack the outcomes and implications of the historic conference for people and the planet. The course is open to students interested in Global Warming from all disciplines/perspectives, including those who travel to Paris as part of the delegation, and those who do not.

Contact: Professor Anji Seth <anji.seth@uconn.edu>

FlyerGEOG4098

2015-16 Teale Lecture Series

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The Edwin Way Teale lecture series  posters are up around campus  and information can be found  at  <http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/events/teale/teale.htm>.

The first lecture:

16 October 2015 — Please note that this lecture is on Friday @ 3p.m.

“Island Ecosystems as Models for Human-Environment Interaction”
Peter Vitousek
Clifford G. Morrison Professor of Biology and Sykes Family Faculty Director of the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources
Stanford University

Teale2015-2016-poster

 

#UConnCOP21: Paris or bust!

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UConn will send* a select group of students (and faculty) to Paris this December for what is shaping up to be a historic event for people and the planet. The UN Climate Negotiations (under the UNFCCC) to be held in Paris, France is the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21). COP21 will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. And there is plenty of momentum building for this historic event.  [Keep up with the latest climate news with my twitter feed  <twitter.com/AnjiSeth>.]

#UConnCOP 21 

The University of Connecticut will be providing funding for a select group of students to travel to Paris from November 30th – December 6th to attend events centered on the conference and experience the historic and beautiful city of Paris.

The student application requirements and additional information about the trip can be found at the website below.  Applications must be submitted by Friday, October 9th.

<https://uconnoep.wordpress.com/cop-21-student-application/>.

* with initial sponsorship from CLAS, CANHR, OEP, Office of Global Programs.

Sabbatical Adventures: coming soon

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If sabbaticals provide time to focus on research and provide fresh perspectives, mine was successful on both fronts.  I’ll be posting more in the coming weeks about my adventures which involved research and travel.  I’ve included a new pic in the slideshow of an invited talk at the India International Center in New Delhi, in April.   More on that, as well as research on monsoons and North American climate projections, and a summer visit to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, coming soon.  In the meantime, its good to be back.

Nov 21 – Physics Colloquium: Seeking New Technologies for Future Energy Systems, Dr. Richard Sassoon

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Dr. Richard Sassoon is the Managing Director of the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University. Prior to joining GCEP, Dr. Sassoon was Senior Scientist and Assistant Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation, where he worked with the U.S. Department of Energy in strategic planning and management of its environmental research programs. His research interests are in the area of photochemical solar energy conversion and storage systems.

Date:  Friday, Nov 21  @ 4:00 pm

Location: Department of Physics (Gant Building), ground floor

Title: Seeking New Technologies for Future Energy Systems

Abstract: 

Finding solutions for supplying the world with energy that is abundant, affordable, reliable, and environmentally clean is one of the grand challenges we face this century. This talk will describe the range of technologies needed to enable a sustainable energy future and provide an assessment of the obstacles that need to be overcome and the progress that needs to be made. It will center around the diverse portfolio of innovative energy research activities taking place under the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University. The overall goal of the Project is to conduct breakthrough, fundamental research to generate technical options that could permit the development of global energy systems with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. The talk will provide an overview of its research strategy, accomplishments, and anticipated impact on the energy field.

A round table discussion will be held at 2 PM in the Reading Room (P 103), first floor of the Physics Building (also called Gant Building). Tea will be served at 3.30 PM.

Teale Lecture: Climate Change in the American Mind – Anthony Leiserowitz – Th Nov 20

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Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, will be on campus next week for the Teale Lecture.  The title of his talk is “Climate Change in the American Mind”.  Get there early if you want a seat.  Here are the details:

UConn’s Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature & the Environment

presents

Climate Change in the American Mind

Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz,
 Director, Yale Project on Climate Change Communication,
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Thursday, November 20, 4 pm
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Konover Auditorium
University of Connecticut, Storrs

Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz is Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and a Research Scientist at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He will report on recent trends in Americans’ climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy support, and behavior and discuss strategies for more effective public engagement.

Dr. Leiserowitz is a widely recognized expert on American and international public opinion on global warming, including public perception of climate change risks, support and opposition for climate policies, and willingness to make individual behavioral change. His research investigates the psychological, cultural, political, and geographic factors that drive public environmental perception and behavior. He has conducted survey, experimental, and field research at scales ranging from the global to the local, including international studies, the United States, individual states (Alaska and Florida), municipalities (New York City), and with the Inupiaq Eskimo of Northwest Alaska. He also conducted the first empirical assessment of worldwide public values, attitudes, and behaviors regarding global sustainability, including environmental protection, economic growth, and human development. He has served as a consultant to the John F. Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University), the United Nations Development Program, the Gallup World Poll, the Global Roundtable on Climate Change at the Earth Institute (Columbia University), and the World Economic Forum.

http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/events/teale/teale.htm – 860.486.4460

The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series brings leading scholars and scientists to the University of Connecticut to present public lectures on nature and the environment.

ASG Seminar: Catherine Pomposi

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We are pleased to have a former student, Catherine Pomposi, return to campus to talk about her current research in a seminar this week.  Catherine is currently an NSF Graduate Fellow at Columbia University.  Here are the details:

Date:  Friday, Oct 10  @ 11:30 am

Location: AUST 420 (Geography Conference Room)

Title: Understanding Sahelian Precipitation Variability on Key Timescales with a Moisture Budget Framework and Applications to Society

Abstract:

Abstract: In this talk, I will largely focus on decadal scale precipitation variability over the West African Sahel in the CAM4 Model, using a moisture budget framework. Overall results include the ability of the model to pick up important relationships between Sahel precipitation variability on decadal timescales with the Indian and Atlantic basins, and shows that the change in precipitation minus evaporation in the region is dominated by column integrated moisture convergence due to the mean flow, with the convergence of mass in the atmospheric column mainly responsible. Diagnosis of moisture budget and circulation components within the main rainbelt and along the monsoon margins show that changes to the mass convergence are related to the magnitude of precipitation that falls in the region, while the advection of dry air is associated with the maximum latitudinal extent of precipitation. I will then briefly introduce the next step of this work, which is to continue studying the moisture budget prior to the monsoon onset, which provides insight into the interannual and seasonal variability of the system. Finally, I provide information about a recent trip to Senegal which allows for highlighting the kinds of climate services workshops that are in place in the Sahel, and bridges the scientific aspects of monsoon study with societal needs and a human component. 

Pomposi-Oct2014

Teale Lecture: Steward Pickett

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UConn’s Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature & the Environment kicks off this Thursday with Steward Pickett, speaking about The Global Urban Crisis and an Ecological Way Forward.

Thursday, September 25, 4 pm

Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Konover Auditorium

University of Connecticut, Storrs



Here’s the abstract:  Urban areas today are expanding at an unprecedented rate across the globe.  There are more and more new cities by the year, and the largest of existing cities are growing still larger.  On the one hand, cities can be the epitome of sustainability, reaping the benefits of proximity, efficiency, and innovation.  On the other hand, they can be graveyards of dreams and sources of contamination.  As cities grow, change, and become ever more connected to global networks, societies are presented with choices.  Cities are in crisis: do they move toward sustainability, or do they slip backwards into unsanitary and vulnerable states?

The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series brings leading scholars and scientists to the University of Connecticut to present public lectures on nature and the environment.