Seminar by Andreas Max Kääb, Professor, Dept. of Geosciences.
"IPCC special report: The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate"
From the IPCC press release:
[ The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report highlights the urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitionus and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere. The report reveals the benefits of ambitious and effective adaptation for sustainable developmend and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action.
The ocean and the cryosphere - the frozen parts of the planet - play a critical role for life on Earth. A total of 670 million people in high mountain regions and 680 million peple in low-lying coastal zones depend directly on these systems. Four million people live permanently in the Arctic region, and small island developing states are home to 6 million people.
Global warming has already reached 1 degree C above the pre-industrial level, due to past and current greenhouse gas emissions. There is overwhelming evidence that this is resulting in profound consequences for ecosystems and people. The ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe
[...] Urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions limits the scale of ocean and cryosphere changes. Ecosystems and the liverlyhoods that depend on them can be preserved. [...] Knowledge assessed in the report outlines climate-related risks and challenges that people around the world are exposed to today and that future generations will face. It presents options to adapt to changes that can no longer be avoided, manage related risks and build resilience for a sustainable future. The assessment shows that adaptation depends on the capacity of individuals and communities and the resources available to them. [...]
In summary, the SROCC provides information on:
- Major changes in high mountains affecting downstream communities
- Melting ice, rising seas
- More frequent extreme sea level events
- Changing ocean ecosystems
- Declining Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost
- Knowledge for urgent action
Andreas Kääb is one of several Norwegian scientists among the more than 100 authors, chosen by their scientific merits, that contributed to this special report.
- The report and summary for policy makers (40p) can be found here: https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/home/
- See the complete press release (pdf
About the seminar:
This seminar is offered by the Section for Geography and Hydrology at the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo. The seminar is announced as a lunch seminar so bring your lunch if you want to.
Everyone is welcome, and especially students.
The lunch seminar team.