DPG renews warning of serious consequences of man-made climate change
More than four decades ago, the German Physical Society warned of the dangers of man-made climate change. Coinciding with the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June 2019, the DPG now renews its appeal to do everything in its power to reduce the resulting additional greenhouse effect to a tolerable level.
PolarQuest: Mission accomplished! Expedition achievements and highlights
Polarquest 2018’s sailboat Nanuq has successfully completed the circumnavigation of the Svalbard archipelago closing the loop in Isfjord, just outside Longyearbyen, where the Svalbard leg of the expedition started on August 4, logging 1500 nautical miles and reaching the outer boundary of the ice shelf at 82°07 N at 16h50 UTC on August 13. The sailing conditions were “exceptionally favorable, with absolutely no ice until very high latitude and only one gale with gusts up to 50 knots” – said Captain Peter Gallinelli, upon arrival. “More than weather and ice, the real challenge was a few very poorly or completely uncharted areas, especially on the East coast of the Nordaustlandet island, where we were often surprised by unmarked shoals and sailed inside completely uncharted fjords”.
EPFL: a small town affected by climate change
In the year 2100, temperatures at EPFL are expected to be similar to those currently experienced in Perugia, in central Italy. EPFL researchers have analyzed the campus as if it were a town in its own right in order to come up with specific solutions that bring together biometeorology and architecture and could be implemented in the near future.
Solar lamp kits at the COP22
During the second week of November 2016, the European Physical Society [EPS] Young Minds project, in close cooperation with the associations Migrations Co-developpement Alsace, Liter of light France and the University of Beni Mellal, developed solar kits lamps.
IPCC elects Hoesung Lee of Republic of Korea as Chair
DUBROVNIK, Croatia, Oct 6 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) elected Hoesung Lee of the Republic of Korea as its new Chair on Tuesday.
Hoesung Lee was elected by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off with Jean-Pascal van Ypersele. A total of six candidates had been nominated for the position.
“I am honoured and grateful that the Panel has elected me as the IPCC’s new Chair,” said Hoesung Lee. “The IPCC remains deeply committed to providing policymakers with the highest quality scientific assessment …
Editorial – Advising on Science
One essential question today is how much responsibility must scientists take in advising politicians on science policy issues and other society challenges.
In an article that appeared in EPN45/3 in 2014, entitled ‘Climate change can we afford to wait longer?‘ I expressed my personal view on the need to communicate on important and timely environmental issues. This was an easy process since this opinion was that of a single author. In the meantime, the EPS has published a position paper written by its…
G7 sends powerful message on climate change
In their declaration following the G7 summit that took place on 7-8 june 2015 in Schloss Elmau, Germany, leaders stressed their determination to adopt a legal instrument to ensure global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius – ”The agreement should enhance transparency and accountability including thorough binding rules at its core to track progress towards achieving targets, which should promote increased ambition over time. This should enable all countries to follow a low-carbon and resilient development pathway in line with the global goal to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C”.
Governments Agree the Negotiating Text for the Paris Climate Agreement
p>A key milestone towards a new, universal agreement on climate change was reached in Geneva following seven days of negotiations by over 190 nations.
Nations concluded the Geneva Climate Change Talks by successfully preparing the negotiating text for the 2015 agreement. The agreement is set to be reached in Paris at the end of 2015 and will come into effect in 2020.
Delegates from 194 countries convened in Geneva to continue work following the Lima Climate Change Conference …
Additional Greenhouse effect is extremely likely to be happening
In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] published the Synthesis of the 5th Assessment Report. The results of their investigations are stated very clearly. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The atmosphere and the ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow/ice have diminished, and the sea level has risen. In addition, the mean surface temperature in 2014, based on global
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2012 Euroscience Open Forum travel grants
A number of travel grants are currently available to attend the 2012 Euroscience Open Forum [ESOF2012], which is being held in Dublin on 11-15 July this year. Held biennially, ESOF is a pan-European meeting dedicated to scientific research and innovation.
The event will bring together over 5,000 scientists, business leaders and government officials to discuss current global scientific challenges, such as climate change, energy, food and health…
Grid computing to help investigate climate change
The ‘Conference on the role of e-Infrastructures for Climate Change Research’ was held at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, in Trieste, on 16-20 May this year. The event brought together scientists and policy makers from across the world, in order to address climate change from economic, political and scientific perspectives.
e-Infrastructures is a term given to advanced computer systems and networks which are capable of running simulations based on massive data sets – such as, in the field of climate change, models of monsoon rainfall. Such systems can…
