JISAO Lecture Series 2008 -- Climate Change: A Wake Up Call

In its inaugural lecture series the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) launches an annual event to bring science of local, regional, and global significance to the public. A leader in the environmental sciences, JISAO fosters collaborative research between the University of Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in climate, ocean and fishery sciences. This year’s lecture series “Climate Change: A Wake Up Call” addresses the timely and critical issue of global warming. JISAO is honored to host three speakers of national stature who will discuss the challenges and opportunities before us: King County Executive Ron Sims; Dr. Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; and Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona.

Mr. Ron Sims, King County Executive
“Shared Prosperity in an Age of Global Warming: King County’s Vision for an Equitable Clean Energy Economy” – Keynote lecture

Wednesday, January 30, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Pacific Science Center, Eames IMAX Theatre

Admission to each Eames IMAX lecture is $5.00. Admission is FREE to Faculty, Staff and Students of the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center Members, and Town Hall Members.

King County Executive Ron Sims will present his vision of how the Martin Luther King, Jr. County region can and must address the social, economic and health inequities of climate change impacts, and what King County government is doing to reduce these disparities in our communities.

Dr. Konrad Steffen
“Sea Level Rise and Ice Sheets”
Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
Pacific Science Center, Eames IMAX Theatre

Admission to each Eames IMAX lecture is $5.00. Admission is FREE to Faculty, Staff and Students of the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center Members, and Town Hall Members.

“Cryospheric Response to Climate Change”
Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
UW, Kane Hall, Room 210 (Admission FREE).

Dr. Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), has lead field expeditions to Greenland and other Arctic regions for the past consecutive 33 years measuring the dynamic response of ice masses under a warming climate.  In these lectures he will share the first video from water channels inside the Greenland ice sheet 

Dr. Jonathan Overpeck
"Climate Change, Sea Level, and Western Drought: Dangerous Anthropogenic Interference?”

Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
UW, Kane Hall, Room 210 (Admission FREE).

Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
Pacific Science Center, Eames IMAX Theatre

Admission to each Eames IMAX lecture is $5.00. Admission is FREE to Faculty, Staff and Students of the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center Members, and Town Hall Members.

Learn why the American West could be in trouble with surface air temperatures rising faster than elsewhere in the coterminous United States.  Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona, and recipient of the shared 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a Coordinating Lead Author for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment, will address the trend of droughts in the west and the vulnerability of coastal communities as they face sea level rise coupled with increasing storm intensities.