Please join Professor Gideon Henderson, Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and Head of Department, as he presents a talk on Carbon Change. Following up from Earth Day, and the debate around the perception of science in a “post-truth” age, this should be a fascinating discussion. We especially invite alumni from the Department of Earth Sciences to come and learn what is new in the department.
The venue will be the Alliance Francaise in Montrose and we will have wine and snacks. Following the talk which will begin at 6:30 pm we will convene to the Black Labrador for drinks. There will be a nominal charge of $15 per person to cover facility costs. Please register via the link.
Abstract
If the goals agreed by all nations at the Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015 are to be met, we will need a rapid change in our sources of energy. This will be challenging, when more than 80% of the world’s energy comes from burning of fossil fuels, and with global energy demand increasing. Most scenarios for the future that allow for realistic rates of transition in energy production, and likely energy demand, suggest that we will only be able to realise the goal of keeping climate warming below 2 degrees C if we not only decrease emission, but also eventually remove carbon from the atmosphere. Such carbon removal – so called negative emissions – will require understanding of diverse aspects of the earth system. This talk will consider how the C cycle has changed on Earth due to human activity, and how we might intentionally manipulate the earth system to control future climate. There will also be time for discussion of climate change more generally.