ETH Meets You at the AAAS 2019 in Washington D.C.
Exploring feedback processes in nature, human culture and society help climate scientists to create accurate forecasts and promote focused strategies to mitigate the onset of climate change. ETH Zurich hosts a symposium during the 2019 AAAS.
Climate Change: Understanding Feedback from Nature, Culture and Society
Researchers from ETH Zurich and their counterparts from University of Maryland NASA Goddard and UC Santa Barbara present their research during a scientific symposium at the AAAS (The America Association for the Advancement of Science) one of the largest scientific conferences in the world.
Focusing on feedback processes from fluctuating environmental conditions, climate scientists create accurate forecasts used to promote focused strategies to mitigate the onset of climate change. In this symposium, scientists explore feedback processes in nature, human culture, and society. Measuring vegetation and analyzing the biological carbon dioxide cycle provides insight that scientists use to model the natural climate response in different ecosystems. Geospatial mapping and novel sensing technologies open up research for long-term prediction. However, there are still gaps in understanding the impact of society and culture.
Humans feel the impact of environmental change in terms of the fluctuation of water resources, viable agricultural land, and increased vulnerability to natural disaster. Yet their response seems to continue to accelerate climate change. Working across disciplines and with local communities, presenters in this session articulate how small-scale political and cultural realities undermine global efforts to combat climate change.
Predicting Climate Change
Thomas Crowther, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
The living parts of the planet make it unique from all other parts of the solar system, and they drive every aspect of biogeochemical cycling. Thomas Crowther uses the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative - the largest global forestry dataset - to understand and predict climate change.
DownloadFactsheet (PDF, 1.3 MB)
external pageAAAS Session - Understanding Carbon Cycle Feedbacks to Predict Climate Change
Spaceborne Data
external pageLaura Duncanson, University of Maryland and NASA Goddard, College Park, USA
Laura Duncanson presents recent NASA laser missions – the ICESat-2 satellite and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) contribute to mapping global forest biomass, to guide forest management programs and inform climate mitigation plans.
Climate - Politics and Policy
external pageMatto Mildenberger, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Perceived experiences with climate change in the U.S. can be linked to political shifts in Congress, culture and society. Mildenberger will demon how partisan opinions about the prevalence and dangers of climate change can change policymaking by the U.S. Congress.
DownloadFactsheet (PDF, 507 KB)
external pageAAAS Session - Political and Policy Feedbacks in the Climate System
News briefing
Saturday, 16 February 2019, 1:00 PM
AAAS Newsroom Headquarters
Mezzanine level, Marriott Wardman Park
2660 Woodley Rd NW
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Follow-up questions/press interviews in the Buchanan room.
Symposium
Saturday, 16 February 2019, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Marriott Wardman Park - Delaware Suite
2660 Woodley Rd NW
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Press materials
High resolution images, video material, and factsheets may be found on the external pageAAAS EurekAlert! platform or at this link to the ETH Zurich Media Kit for the AAAS - all materials are under an embargo until 16 February 2019 at 3:30 PM.