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CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Past Seminars

Seminar Abstract

The ethics (or lack thereof?) of human-caused climate warming

In 2001, the IPCC's Third Assessment Report showed substantial increases in the collective confidence concerning the reality of human-caused climate warming. In response, leading governments, technologists, and scientists have begun to focus their attention toward this this problem more seriously, the most notable exceptions being the USA and Australia. However, virtually no countries have yet made even a significant dent toward dealing with the real magnitude of this fundamentally global problem that now confronts us all.

Most of the observed global warming over the 20th century has been attributed to increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Further warming, however, will continue to lag behind these increased greenhouse gas concentrations by decades to centuries. This is due to the delayed warming, being caused by the very high heat capacity of the global ocean, for decades to centuries. In effect, we are on a trajectory to pass many of the major consequences of our global inaction to multiple generations, yet unborn.

Collectively, these and other mega-challenges have already virtually guaranteed what I have called "THE GLOBAL WARMING DILEMMA", to be outlined in the talk. This dilemma contains multiple challenges that lie well beyond improving our understanding of climate science and potential new energy technologies. These daunting challenges are inevitably accompanied by a number of global-scale "values conflicts" that have yet barely touched the collective consciousness of earth's current living generations.

These values conflicts, and their profound global and temporal implications, will be highlighted in the talk, with time left to encourage the attendees to offer their own questions, perspectives, and insights following the presentation.

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Biography
Jerry Mahlman received an AB in Physics and Mathematics from Chadron State College, and an MSc and PhD in Atmospheric Sciences at Colorado State University. After a 3-year stay in the Meteorology Department of the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, in 1970 he accepted a Senior Research Scientist position at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at Princeton University. While at GFDL, he led the development of pioneering mathematical models of the transport of chemicals in the global atmosphere, and of the circulation of the stratosphere. Those models are still heavily utilised today to address global air pollution questions, as well as a variety of problems relating to stratospheric ozone depletion and its interaction with the global warming problem. In 1980, he was designated as a Lecturer with Rank of Professor at Princeton University.

In 1984, he was appointed as the Director of GFDL. In that position, he became immersed in the interpretation of the science behind many of the public policy questions relating to stratospheric ozone depletion and to human-caused climate warming. In that capacity, he has testified in numerous Congressional hearings on ozone depletion and on climate change. In 2000, he retired from GFDL and NOAA. Currently, he holds a part-time Senior Research Associate position at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO., and as a Consultant to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Washington, DC. His main emphasis in both of these positions is as an interpreter of the science and implications of climate warming to policymakers and a highly diverse set of impacted communities.

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CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
Peter Oke, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5387
Piers Dunstan, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5382
Katrina Nitschke, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265 & IASOS, University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2509