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Storylines as a way of bringing meaning to climate change at the local scale

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Presenter: 
Professor Ted Shepherd
When: 
December 1, 2021 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Where: 

This event will be held online via Zoom Meetings. The information is as follows:

Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting URL: https://uvic.zoom.us/j/86905869911?pwd=NkR6OTRCbnVPOGhyWHVaNThlUEZoZz09
Meeting ID: 869 0586 9911
Meeting password: 925728
Phone in from Canada: +17789072071,,86905869911# or +16475580588,,86905869911# or use 1 778 907 2071 or +1 647 558 0588 and enter in the meeting ID and password.
International numbers: International numbers

Abstract:

We know that climate change is happening and is affecting extreme events at the local scale, but the usual scientific representation of climate change at the local scale is either highly aggregated or model-based, and generally excludes the human-managed component. Yet the observed record of change at the local scale can be rich in detail, meaningful, and relevant for local decision-making, if only we are able to use it. The key in doing so is to acknowledge the conditionality of the observed information and the multiple causal factors involved in the changes they record. In this talk I will discuss how the storyline approach to regional climate information can do precisely this, thereby bringing meaning to climate change at the local scale.

Bio:

Ted Shepherd is a dynamical meteorologist whose interests range from theoretical geophysical fluid dynamics to climate modelling and data analysis, with a focus on atmospheric circulation. This span from fundamentals to applications has been a hallmark of his research.

Ted worked at the University of Toronto from 1988-2012, where he made pioneering contributions to the Hamiltonian description of atmospheric dynamics while initiating and leading the Canadian national climate modelling effort focussed on ozone-climate coupling. He made several pivotal contributions to the understanding of the role of climate variability and change in interpreting the observed ozone record and in predicting future ozone recovery. Since moving to the University of Reading in 2012, Ted has highlighted the important role of atmospheric circulation in climate change, which has implications for regional adaptation and societal risk.

Ted has held leadership roles in scientific assessments of both climate (IPCC) and stratospheric ozone (WMO/UNEP), and in the World Climate Research Programme, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the American Geophysical Union.

Update: Slides and Recording

Access the slides from Professor Shepherd's talk.
Watch a recording of this talk.