Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Scientific Symposium:
The Likelihood of Abrupt and Disruptive
Climate Change:
Where are the Tipping Points?
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
480 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W.
Washington D.C.
8:00 - 8:20 a.m. International Action to Buffer Against the Rapid Onset of Climate Change
Sir Crispin Tickell, Chairman Emeritus, Climate Institute; Director, Policy Foresight Program at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, University of Oxford; and Chancellor, University of Kent, United Kingdom
8:20 - 8:30 a.m. UK Government’s Commitment to Climate Stabilization
Ambassador John Ashton, UK Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Former Chief Executive, E3G
8:30 - 10:00 a.m. The Potential for Amplified Changes in the Weather and Climate
Chair, Dr. Michael C. MacCracken, Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs, Climate Institute; and President, International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
- Ten Reasons Why Climate Change May be More Severe than Projected Abstract
Dr. A. Barrie Pittock, Honorary Fellow, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia
- Changes in Severe Weather and Climate: Implications for Human Health Abstract
Dr. Devra Lee Davis, Director, Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; and Professor, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
- The Potential for Hurricane Intensification in a Greenhouse-Enhanced World Abstract
Dr. Judith Curry, Chair and Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
10:00 - 10:20 a.m. Coffee, Tea, and Refreshment Break
10:20 - 11:50 a.m. The Potential for Rapid Melting of Ice and Amplification of Sea Level Rise
Chair, Dr. Robert W. Corell, Chair, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment; and Senior Fellow, Atmospheric Policy Program, American Meteorological Society
- Changes in Polar Sea Ice Coverage Abstract
Dr. Claire L. Parkinson, Senior Scientist and Aqua Project Scientist, Cryospheric Sciences Branch, and Senior Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and Implications for Global Sea Level Rise Abstract
Dr. Eric Rignot, Senior Research Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
- Why Predicting West Antarctic Ice Sheet Behavior is So Hard: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and How We Will Find Out Abstract
Dr. Robert Bindschadler, Chief Scientist, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, and Senior Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Luncheon and Keynote Address: Moving Toward Climate Stabilization: Iceland's Example
Dr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
1:10 - 2:40 p.m. The Potential for Dramatic Changes in Coastal Regions
Chair, The Honorable Tom Roper, Project Director, Small Island States Energy Initiative, Climate Institute
- The Potential for Significant Impacts on Chesapeake Bay Abstract
Dr. Michael S. Kearney, Professor, Department of Geography, and Earth Systems Science Information Center, University of Maryland
- The Gulf Coast: Increasing Vulnerability to Storms and Sea Level Rise Abstract
Dr. Virginia Burkett, Coordinator, Global Change Science, United States Geological Survey
- Protecting Against Coastal Flooding in the New York Metropolitan Area and Long Island Abstract
Dr. Malcolm Bowman, Professor, Marine Science Research Center, Stony Brook University; and President, Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy
2:40 - 3:00 p.m. Coffee, Tea, and Refreshment Break
3:00 - 4:30 p.m. The Potential for Rapid Changes in Ecosystems
Chair, Mr. Paul C. Pritchard, President and Founder, National Park Trust
- Where Will Ecosystems Go? Abstract
Dr. Anthony C. Janetos, Vice President, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment (current); and Director, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory / University of Maryland (imminent)
- Increasing Vulnerability of Alaska's Boreal Forest as a Result of Climate Warming and the Changing Fire Regime Abstract
Dr. Eric S. Kasischke, Professor of Biogeography, Department of Geography, and Director of Graduate Studies, University of Maryland
- Polar Bears in a Warming Arctic Abstract
Dr. Andrew E. Derocher, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada; and Chair, IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group
4:30 - 5:45 p.m. Shaping Responses to Severe Climatic Disruption
Chair, Mr. Thomas R. Casten, Chair and CEO, Primary Energy
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Developing Effective Responses to Disasters
Admiral James M. Loy, Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group; Co-Chair, ProtectingAmerica.org; Former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; and Former Commandant, United States Coast Guard - Increasing the Resilience of Our Coasts Abstract
Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, Director, International Hurricane Research Center & Laboratory for Coastal Research, and Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Florida International University
- Stimulating a Clean Energy Revolution
Mr. Christopher Flavin, President, Worldwatch Institute
5:45 - 6:00 p.m. Symposium Reflections and Summary
Chairman, Sir Crispin Tickell
7:00 p.m. Party Hosted by John C. Topping, Jr., at the Thomas Law House in Honor of Environmental Heroes and Heroines
Two Events Celebrating Two Decades of Progress Protecting the Global Environment are Planned for the Evening of the 19th.
Thomas Law House Dinner: Climate Institute President, John C. Topping, Jr. will be hosting a dinner at the Thomas Law House at 7p.m. on Tuesday, September 19th. He will be presenting Unsung Hero and Heroine Awards to a well-deserving group of environmental advocates. Click here for a map and address of the Thomas Law House.
Dr. Barrie Pittock's Book Signing: Barrie Pittock will discuss his book Climate Change: Turning Up the Heat, which explains the science, policy, and politics of climate change and what it means for the future of humanity and the Earth. This event will take place at Busboys and Poets from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Busboys and Poets is located at 2021 14th St., NW, Washington DC 20009.
September 18 | September 20 | September 21
