LIVING WORLD LECTURE

SPECIAL EARTHSTOCK KEYNOTE LECTURE
Friday, April 21, 7:30 P.M.
Student Activities Center Ballroom B

Robert Cess, Eminent Atmospheric Scientist

Climate Change: What We Know and What We Don't Know

Summary:
Abstract: An overview will be presented concerning the physical processes that govern the Earth’s climate, and of the importance of atmospheric constituents in maintaining that climate. As will be demonstrated, those atmospheric constituents are changing as the result of human activities, but trying to predict the associated change in climate is a formidable task. General circulation models (GCMs) are the most detailed computer simulations for projecting climate change, and the strengths and weaknesses of these models will be discussed. But even though there are uncertainties associated with our understanding of climate change, this does not mean, as some suggest, that this is not a serious problem and that we do not need to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. In fact, if for no other reason we should be striving to conserve fossil fuels simply because they are a limited resource.

Robert Cess is a world-renowned atmospheric scientist who served for many years as Professor of Engineering and Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. He has held the ranks of Leading Professor, Distinguished Service Professor and Distinguished Professor, all signifying the highest academic ranks at Stony Brook University and for the entire State University of New York. He received numerous awards including the Exceptional Scientific Achievement award from NASA and the Jule G. Charney Award from the American Meteorological Society. His work has made major contributions to our understanding of feedback among climatological processes such as cloud formation, which has direct relevance to our understanding of climate change. He also has been deeply involved in the acquisition and analysis of surface and satellite-derived radiant energy data and has been a central figure in many major studies under the auspices of NASA and the Department of Energy.