PORT HADLOCK — A series of four lectures in February will provide information on climate change.
The free lectures by Paul Loubere, who has researched global ocean and climate systems for more than 30 years, will be at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday in February at the Jefferson County Library at 620 Cedar Ave. in Port Hadlock.
During these interactive lectures, Loubere will address the question: Can Earth’s climate be managed or “engineered” by humanity to control global warming?
“Ideas abound,” Loubere said, “but to even enter the conversation on this issue, you need some knowledge of the planet’s main climate systems and how they work.”
The lecture series examines climate systems in a nontechnical way — meaning by use of many photographs and little math, Loubere said, “to provide a basis for a discussion of the active management of climate.”
Schedule
■ Feb. 5, 6:30 p.m. — “The Big Picture: What Makes Earth’s Climate Systems?”
Global climate is the result of the combination of regional climate systems which have their own distinct character and behaviors.
They are separate, yet also linked via what climate scientists call “teleconnections.”
What are these systems, and what planetary scale factors cause them to exist?
■ Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m. — “Gathering Heat: Climate Systems of the Sunny South.”
The Earth gathers and stores heat from the sun at tropical latitudes. That heat drives climate over the whole planet.
Tropical climate systems, especially in the Pacific, impact temperatures and rainfall over the globe.
What patterns of variation do they have, and what could change with the addition of more heat?
■ Feb. 19, 6:30 p.m. — “Yin and Yang: Systems of the Polar Deep Freeze.”
While equatorial regions gain heat, the poles lose it to space. If the tropics are the heat source, the poles are the sink of the global climate system.
What factors can lead to change in the flow of heat to the poles?
How will such change alter polar environments, and how will the overall climate respond to that change?
■ Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m. — “Managing Climate Change: Can You Engineer Climate?”
Humanity is now engaged in altering climate by changing a fundamental climate factor: the amount of incoming solar radiation that is trapped by the planet.
Can we predict the consequences of that, and can we counter the warming process if we decide we need to?
For more information about this program, visit www.jclibrary.info or call 360-385-6544.
