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SUMMARY:ENAC Seminar Series by Dr. Julia Schmale & Dr. Francesco Avanzi
DTSTART:20181129T093000
DTEND:20181129T113000
DTSTAMP:20260916T225603Z
UID:4fed887d6110cd42b50645e89a68907736fa40f06fbefa3d10655a08
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Julia Schmale & Dr. Francesco Avanzi\n9:30 – 10:30 – D
 r. Julia Schmale\nScientist\, Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry\, Energy
  and Environment\,\nPaul Scherrer Institute\, CH\n \nChanging extreme env
 ironments: a human modulated process \n \nThe extreme environments are on
 e of the most illustrative indicators of contemporary human pressures on n
 ature. Prominent examples are the retreat of alpine glaciers or the decrea
 se of Arctic sea ice. The consequences of a changing cryosphere are eviden
 tly impacting society\, for example through the depletion of regional wate
 r resources from glaciers and seasonal snow\, or through extreme weather e
 vents in the mid-latitudes due to Arctic change. This demonstrates the ine
 xtricable link between changes in the extreme environments and human activ
 ities. 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 fut
 ure predictions of anthropogenic radiative forcing. Such information relie
 s on the understanding of natural processes and of how human activities di
 rectly or indirectly induce change to these processes. The scientific unde
 rstanding is\, however\, often incomplete due to limited observations and 
 modelling capacities.\nBy 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 discus
 s 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 ex
 treme environments that are in part still untouched by human influence -- 
 such as the Southern Ocean or the high Arctic -- can help to better constr
 ain anthropogenic radiative forcing caused by agents other than greenhouse
  gases. The presentation will finish with an outlook on future internation
 al activities that address the human-modulated interactions of the extreme
  environments with the atmosphere\, as well as on initiatives that are con
 cerned with developing targeted mitigation options.\n\n10:30 – 11:30 –
  Dr. Francesco Avanzi\nPostdoctoral Scholar\, University of California\, B
 erkeley\, USA\n \nOn snow- and ice-dominated regions\, natural-human syst
 ems\, and decision making: extreme environments in the century of water \n
 \nWe are living in the century of water: with the global population possib
 ly rising to 9 billion by 2050 and with climate change threatening water-r
 esources supply to both ecosystems and humans\, worldwide water-management
  policies are strained by profound challenges. Extreme environments are ke
 y sentinels of these changes\, including expected shifts in precipitation\
 , ice- and snow-water resources\, rain-on-snow events\, melt and runoff se
 asonality\, evapotranspiration\, and water supply. The recent California d
 rought demonstrated that precipitation variability and high temperatures a
 lready have the potential to jeopardize water-supply generation in snow-do
 minated regions. Managing these risks requires an in-depth understanding o
 f polar- and headwater-runoff generation at the landscape scale\; their de
 pendence on vegetation-water-topography feedback mechanisms\; their future
  evolution and potential unobserved streamflow patterns\; and ultimately t
 heir impacts on energy supply\, water policy\, and environmental risks.\nI
 n this presentation\, I will review impacts of the recent California droug
 ht in snow-dominated regions and show how understanding these impacts can 
 better define risks and opportunities for worldwide extreme environments i
 n 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 perspect
 ives of hydropower in glacierized basins. By connecting these works with o
 ur current research on hydrological and snowpack forecasting for hydropowe
 r in the warming California headwaters\, I will discuss how advances in se
 nsing and computational resources offer new opportunities to promote an in
 tegrated view of the mountain-polar water cycle. Better understanding wate
 r generation in cold regions is a key to developing more robust and adapti
 ve models for decision makers to address the inherent vulnerabilities of m
 odern societies.
LOCATION:BM 5202 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BM%205202
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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