Guy Brassuer, associate director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Earth and Sun System Laboratory, will present a talk Wednesday entitled “Simulating the Future of the Planet: An Earth System Perspective.” The seminar is part of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division’s (EES) Frontiers in Geoscience and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) lecture series.
The talk begins at 3 p.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium and is open to all Laboratory employees.
According to Brasseur, changes to the Earth’s climate systems could have potentially devastating consequences. Decisions to mitigate these effects or to adapt to future changes must rely on sound and objective scientific information, requiring the development of predictive high-resolution climate models.
Brasseur’s talk will show that predicting the evolution of the planet is a major intellectual challenge that will require integrative approaches and the development of interdisciplinary teams. Models of the Earth system that capture the complex interactions between the atmosphere, the land, the ocean, the cryosphere, and account for the role of the human system are important tools to simulate the future of the planet and assess potential changes at the global and regional scales.
Brasseur is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, author of 175 publications and two atmospheric chemistry and physics textbooks, and a former member of the Belgian parliament. NCAR and the Laboratory have a Memorandum of Understanding to foster collaborative research at the nexus of climate change impacts and energy security.
