Who wants answers on climate change?
 Environment
A new series of free public seminars at the University of Adelaide is giving climate change sceptics - and other members of the community - exactly what they want: scientific answers on climate change. The new Climate Change Q & A seminar series is being run by the University's Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability (RIsCCS). "Each of the six seminars raises a different commonly asked question about climate change," said the Director of RIsCCS at the University of Adelaide, Professor Barry Brook. "The fact that some people are asking these questions means that we, as scientists, have a responsibility to explain the science behind climate change. "Members of the public will also get to ask questions at the end of each seminar," he said. The series began last month with the all-important question: "Is the Earth really warming?" This month, the series deals with two more important questions: "What future climate change scenarios are possible?" (Friday 5 September) and "Are the impacts of climate change being overstated?" (Friday 19 September). The 5 September seminar features guest speaker Dr Peter Hayman, Principal Scientist in Climate Applications at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). It deals with the computer models scientists use to understand the effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth. Those models have come under attack for being unreliable, and are said to exaggerate the effects of CO2 or neglect the robustness and history of the Earth's climate. This seminar takes a close look at the models - how they work, what they can tell us and why it's important we take them seriously. The 19 September seminar tackles the arguments suggesting that global warming isn't going to have catastrophic impacts. The featured speaker is Dr Corey Bradshaw, Research Director of Marine Impacts for RIsCCS. He will take the audience through "pseudo science" approaches regarding the effects of global warming on severe weather, sea level rise, or the loss of glaciers. He will also look at those who might find global climate changes favourable or who are better positioned to adapt, and discuss what the impact of 2°, 3° or even 6°C of global warming really means for people, plants and animals. Further seminars in the series are: "Will it cost the earth to avoid climate change?" and "Greenhouse denial versus good science: The 'pretend debate'". The free public series is held from 5.30pm-7.00pm on alternate Fridays during second semester 2008. Each seminar is held in Lecture Theatre 102, Napier Building, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide. For complete details about the seminar series, visit: www.adelaide.edu.au/climatechange/
Also visit: http://bravenewclimate.com Story by David Ellis
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