ENAC Seminar Series by Dr. Julia Schmale & Dr. Francesco Avanzi
Event details
| Date | 29.11.2018 |
| Hour | 09:30 › 11:30 |
| Speaker | Dr. Julia Schmale & Dr. Francesco Avanzi |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
9:30 – 10:30 – Dr. Julia Schmale
Scientist, Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Energy and Environment,
Paul Scherrer Institute, CH
Changing extreme environments: a human modulated process
The extreme environments are one of the most illustrative indicators of contemporary human pressures on nature. Prominent examples are the retreat of alpine glaciers or the decrease of Arctic sea ice. The consequences of a changing cryosphere are evidently impacting society, for example through the depletion of regional water resources from glaciers and seasonal snow, or through extreme weather events in the mid-latitudes due to Arctic change. This demonstrates the inextricable link between changes in the extreme environments and human activities. Today, this delicate relationship is in imbalance, repercussions for society might be grave, and natural changes might be irreversible. To develop policy options for sustainable mitigation and adaptation measures, a variety of information is needed. A key input are assessments and future predictions of anthropogenic radiative forcing. Such information relies on the understanding of natural processes and of how human activities directly or indirectly induce change to these processes. The scientific understanding is, however, often incomplete due to limited observations and modelling capacities.
By taking atmospheric processes as an example, the presentation will show how human activities profoundly modify the natural system, including the extreme environments. Specifically, I will discuss how human emissions can influence the melting of glaciers through albedo reduction, and how they modify the Arctic energy balance, both directly and mediated through cloud formation. I will also discuss how studying extreme environments that are in part still untouched by human influence -- such as the Southern Ocean or the high Arctic -- can help to better constrain anthropogenic radiative forcing caused by agents other than greenhouse gases. The presentation will finish with an outlook on future international activities that address the human-modulated interactions of the extreme environments with the atmosphere, as well as on initiatives that are concerned with developing targeted mitigation options.
10:30 – 11:30 – Dr. Francesco Avanzi
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, USA
On snow- and ice-dominated regions, natural-human systems, and decision making: extreme environments in the century of water
We are living in the century of water: with the global population possibly rising to 9 billion by 2050 and with climate change threatening water-resources supply to both ecosystems and humans, worldwide water-management policies are strained by profound challenges. Extreme environments are key sentinels of these changes, including expected shifts in precipitation, ice- and snow-water resources, rain-on-snow events, melt and runoff seasonality, evapotranspiration, and water supply. The recent California drought demonstrated that precipitation variability and high temperatures already have the potential to jeopardize water-supply generation in snow-dominated regions. Managing these risks requires an in-depth understanding of polar- and headwater-runoff generation at the landscape scale; their dependence on vegetation-water-topography feedback mechanisms; their future evolution and potential unobserved streamflow patterns; and ultimately their impacts on energy supply, water policy, and environmental risks.
In this presentation, I will review impacts of the recent California drought in snow-dominated regions and show how understanding these impacts can better define risks and opportunities for worldwide extreme environments in the century of water. I will then discuss our previous work on wet-snow metamorphism and water movement through snow as well as on future perspectives of hydropower in glacierized basins. By connecting these works with our current research on hydrological and snowpack forecasting for hydropower in the warming California headwaters, I will discuss how advances in sensing and computational resources offer new opportunities to promote an integrated view of the mountain-polar water cycle. Better understanding water generation in cold regions is a key to developing more robust and adaptive models for decision makers to address the inherent vulnerabilities of modern societies.
Scientist, Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Energy and Environment,
Paul Scherrer Institute, CH
Changing extreme environments: a human modulated process
The extreme environments are one of the most illustrative indicators of contemporary human pressures on nature. Prominent examples are the retreat of alpine glaciers or the decrease of Arctic sea ice. The consequences of a changing cryosphere are evidently impacting society, for example through the depletion of regional water resources from glaciers and seasonal snow, or through extreme weather events in the mid-latitudes due to Arctic change. This demonstrates the inextricable link between changes in the extreme environments and human activities. Today, this delicate relationship is in imbalance, repercussions for society might be grave, and natural changes might be irreversible. To develop policy options for sustainable mitigation and adaptation measures, a variety of information is needed. A key input are assessments and future predictions of anthropogenic radiative forcing. Such information relies on the understanding of natural processes and of how human activities directly or indirectly induce change to these processes. The scientific understanding is, however, often incomplete due to limited observations and modelling capacities.
By taking atmospheric processes as an example, the presentation will show how human activities profoundly modify the natural system, including the extreme environments. Specifically, I will discuss how human emissions can influence the melting of glaciers through albedo reduction, and how they modify the Arctic energy balance, both directly and mediated through cloud formation. I will also discuss how studying extreme environments that are in part still untouched by human influence -- such as the Southern Ocean or the high Arctic -- can help to better constrain anthropogenic radiative forcing caused by agents other than greenhouse gases. The presentation will finish with an outlook on future international activities that address the human-modulated interactions of the extreme environments with the atmosphere, as well as on initiatives that are concerned with developing targeted mitigation options.
10:30 – 11:30 – Dr. Francesco Avanzi
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, USA
On snow- and ice-dominated regions, natural-human systems, and decision making: extreme environments in the century of water
We are living in the century of water: with the global population possibly rising to 9 billion by 2050 and with climate change threatening water-resources supply to both ecosystems and humans, worldwide water-management policies are strained by profound challenges. Extreme environments are key sentinels of these changes, including expected shifts in precipitation, ice- and snow-water resources, rain-on-snow events, melt and runoff seasonality, evapotranspiration, and water supply. The recent California drought demonstrated that precipitation variability and high temperatures already have the potential to jeopardize water-supply generation in snow-dominated regions. Managing these risks requires an in-depth understanding of polar- and headwater-runoff generation at the landscape scale; their dependence on vegetation-water-topography feedback mechanisms; their future evolution and potential unobserved streamflow patterns; and ultimately their impacts on energy supply, water policy, and environmental risks.
In this presentation, I will review impacts of the recent California drought in snow-dominated regions and show how understanding these impacts can better define risks and opportunities for worldwide extreme environments in the century of water. I will then discuss our previous work on wet-snow metamorphism and water movement through snow as well as on future perspectives of hydropower in glacierized basins. By connecting these works with our current research on hydrological and snowpack forecasting for hydropower in the warming California headwaters, I will discuss how advances in sensing and computational resources offer new opportunities to promote an integrated view of the mountain-polar water cycle. Better understanding water generation in cold regions is a key to developing more robust and adaptive models for decision makers to address the inherent vulnerabilities of modern societies.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez