Climate Disruption, Extreme Weather, and Food Supply
Speaker: Paul Henry Beckwith
Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Ottawa Public Library Main Auditorium (120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON)

The Arctic temperature amplification relative to the global average change is the linchpin of the global climate system. What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic, unlike Las Vegas. Rapid warming there is quickly reducing the temperature gradient relative to the equator, causing slower and wavier and more fractured jet stream wind circulation patterns which guide the global weather. Extreme weather events (including flooding, droughts, storms…) are increasing in frequency, severity and duration, and are changing location leading to severe societal and economic disruption, including infrastructure damage and food production losses. We have changed the chemistry of the atmosphere via human fossil fuel emissions and the system changes are ubiquitous. We are now in a period of consequences. In this talk, Dr. Paul Henry Beckwith (University of Ottawa) discusses the climate system, and where we are heading. In partnership with the Ottawa Society for the Arts and Sciences.