[SEMCO] WHOI to Host Public Forum on Climate Change and Global Water Supplies

[Information Office]

WHOI to Host Public Forum on Climate Change and Global Water Supplies

http://www.whoi.edu/main/news-releases?tid=3622&cid=136609

Severe droughts, floods, and storms are now a routine part of our 
nation's weather forecast. Remarkably hot and dry weather in 2011 caused 
droughts in Texas, the Plains states and the West. The year also brought 
historic flooding along the Mississippi River. In the Northeast, an 
unusually warm winter meant little snowfall and bad news for the north 
country ski economy. What do these extreme weather events tell us about 
our changing climate?

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will host a public forum 
on the impacts of climate change on water availability worldwide. 
"Drought or Deluge: The Ocean and Earth's Changing Water Cycle," will be 
held on May 17 at 7 p.m. in Redfield Auditorium, featuring experts on 
extreme weather, changing rainfall patterns, and the impact of changing 
water supplies on the developing world.

Water is essential for civilization and to life on Earth.  New oceanic 
data show that the planetary water cycle is changing faster than 
anticipated and in surprising ways. In the near future, some parts of 
Earth are likely to experience intensified drought while other regions 
can expect more frequent flooding.

"This forum will present the latest science related to the changing 
global water cycle and its link to extreme weather, and it will give the 
public a chance to ask experts what these changing patterns mean for 
them," said Raymond Schmitt, a senior scientist in the WHOI Physical 
Oceanography department.

The panel discussion begins with featured keynote talks by:

*Dr. Kevin Anchukaitis*
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
"Mega-Droughts of the Past"

*Dr. Anthony Patt*
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
"Water and the Developing World"

*Dr. Raymond Schmitt*
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
"The Oceans and the Changing Global Water Cycle"

*Dr. Kevin Trenberth*
National Center For Atmospheric Research
"Climate Change and Extreme Weather"

Mindy Todd, host of "The Point," a program on WCAI, the Cape and Islands 
NPR station, will moderate a panel discussion following the presentations.

The program is part of the Morss Colloquia series at Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution.  A generous gift by Elisabeth W. and Henry A. 
Morss, Jr. has allowed the Institution to establish a fund to support 
public colloquia on issues of global importance that confront the human 
race.

Colloquia are intended to go beyond routine scientific meetings, to 
expose the Institution's staff and public community to new issues and 
new perspectives that cross disciplinary boundaries between the sciences 
and social sciences.

/The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent 
organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, 
engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a 
recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary 
mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as 
a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in 
the changing global environment./
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