6 September 2004The University of Melbourne
The lecture, by Professor Ian Simmonds from the School of Earth Sciences, will also address the debate on international policy on climate change. Professor Simmonds will discuss the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the effect that humans have had in changes to the planet. “The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is greater now than at any time in the last half million years or more and the most recent changes in the atmosphere are predominantly due to the activities of humans,” he says. Professor Simmonds will present an overview of Southern Hemisphere climate changes that have occurred in recent times and discuss the factors that induce rapid climate change, such as those responsible for the recent collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The potential for rapid sudden changes comparable to those dramatised in the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and how we are equipped to deal with them will also be addressed in the lecture. “It is becoming increasingly clear that rapid climatic changes present significant challenges to us in the future, not least because many of its consequences are difficult to envisage,” he says. ‘The Day After Tomorrow? Climate change in the Southern Hemisphere’ is the second lecture of the Faculty of Science Dean’s public lecture series 2004. WHAT: The Day After Tomorrow? Climate change in the Southern Hemisphere WHEN: 6:30pm Wednesday, 8 September WHERE: Theatre A, Elisabeth Murdoch Building (University of Melbourne Building 134) Please contact Cecily Maxwell, Event coordinator for general information relating to the lecture series by email: [email protected] or on 8344 4286. More information about the Faculty of Science Dean’s lecture series 2004 is available on http://www.science.unimelb.edu.au/events/publiclectures.php
