The PhD defence and trial lecture will be held in Auditorium 1 in The Geology Building. In some cases, it will be possible to attend the trial lecture and dissertation digitally, in that case a link to Zoom will be posted.
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Trial lecture
Friday 22 August, 10:30-11:15, Aud 1, The Geology Building:
High latitude climate: Forcing, feedbacks and variability
Conferral summary (in Norwegian)
Vulkanutbrudd spiller en viktig rolle i klimasystemet gjennom utslipp av gasser og partikler (aerosoler). På høye breddegrader på den nordlige halvkule kan store vulkanutbrudd ha betydelige effekter på klimaet, men kunnskapen om denne typen utbrudd er begrenset. I sin doktorgradsavhandling har Herman Fæhn Fuglestvedt undersøkt klima- og miljøeffektene av slike utbrudd, og de prosessene i atmosfæren som er med på å forme dem. Studien bidrar til å bedre kunne forutsi effekter av fremtidige vulkanutbrudd, og å rekonstruere historiske utbrudd med større nøyaktighet.
Main research findings
Popular scientific article about Fuglestvedt’s dissertation:
The forcing and impacts of northern high-latitude volcanic eruptions
Volcanic eruptions are major drivers of natural climate variability due to the emission of gases and particles (aerosols). With regards to their impacts on the climate and environment, less is known about eruptions occurring in the northern high latitudes compared to their counterparts in the tropics. High-latitude eruptions are distinctive due to the unique atmospheric conditions they occur in, characterised by strong seasonality and year-to-year variability in stratospheric composition and circulation. Iceland, one of Earth's most active volcanic regions, is home to a large portion of high-latitude volcanism, such as the 10th-century eruption of Eldgjá, which was one of the largest and most complex eruptions in recent millennia.
In his doctoral thesis, Herman Fæhn Fuglestvedt investigated the climate forcing and impacts of northern high-latitude volcanic eruptions using comprehensive aerosol-chemistry-climate modelling. The findings reveal how initial atmospheric conditions significantly influence the dispersion of volcanic volatiles and the formation of volcanic aerosols, and how eruption characteristics shape the climatic and environmental impacts. The doctoral study advances methods for reconstructing historical volcanic forcing based on ice-core data to enhance the precision of climate forcing datasets. Finally, the reconstruction of the Eldgjá eruption and its compounding impacts fills an important gap in our understanding of past high-latitude volcanic activity and climate variability.
Photo and other information:
Press photo: Herman Fæhn Fuglestvedt, portrait; 1000px. Photo: Vilde Ottersen Jagland/MET
