The World's Oceans, the IPCC, and Me
Dr. Nathan Bindoff of the University of Tasmania illuminates the process by which international climate assessments are drafted, and what they mean for the oceans and our future
Reservations
Not Required
Location
Mather Auditorium
This event is handicap accessibleThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment process results in the most rigorous assessment of climate change in the world. Thousands of experts from around the world participate in the IPCC assessment process by synthesizing the most recent developments in climate science, adaptation, vulnerability and mitigation. IPCC assessments and special reports have a strong influence in global negotiations and agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. 195 countries, including the US and Australia, are members of the IPCC.
Along with comprehensive assessments in 1990, 1996, 2001, 2007 and 2013, the IPCC has issued a number of methodology reports, technical papers and special reports assessing specific impacts of climate change. Current special reports by the IPCC include the IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5 °C, which was released in October this year, and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, which will be released in late 2019.
Currently on sabbatical at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Cape Cod, Professor Nathan Bindoff from the University of Tasmania is one of the researchers enlisted in the IPCC process. He is serving as a coordinating lead author of the upcoming Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere (October 2019) and a reviewer of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report, which will be released in 2021.
In this evening lecture, Professor Bindoff describes the IPCC processes from the Fifth Assessment Report, and discusses some of the new and emerging research around our changing oceans. He also explores the changes in the physical-chemical system, through to the changing ecosystems and biomass in the oceans, and the adaptive responses that are possible.
Nathan Bindoff is Professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of Tasmania in Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies. He has a background in Earth Sciences (PhD in Earth Sciences, Australian National University). Professor Bindoff is also a physical oceanographer, specializing in ocean climate and the earth’s climate system, with a focus on understanding the causes of change in the oceans. He was the coordinating lead author for the ocean chapter in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and Fifth Assessment reports. Professor Bindoff and colleagues documented some of the first evidence for changes in the oceans in the Indian, North Pacific, South Pacific and Southern Ocean’s and the first evidence of changes in the Earths hydrological cycle from ocean salinity. His most recent work is on documenting the decline in oxygen content of the oceans and dynamics of the Southern Ocean. He has published more than 124 peer reviewed papers and more than 42 reports. Nathan is deputy leader of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub Project 2.4: Changing oceans and Australia’s future climate.