Global Climate Change; Explaining the Past, Predicting the Future

What you need to know about Climate Change, Global Warming, and Sea Level Rise. Professor Tom Wigley, a respected climate scientist, methodically examines the evidence and explains the consequences.

Tom's wide ranging lecture explains why the data can sometimes be deceptive and explains the impact of aerosol cooling as an offset. He provides insight into the role of the oceans and considers the amount of heat that has been sequestered in the deep ocean.

What lies ahead? Is Global Warming a threat to our future economic growth and lifestyle? What can be done?

Tom considers a range of scenarios, from do nothing to taking radical action, to reducing greenhouse emissions. What will work, nuclear energy, solar cells, or wind power? Or is it a matter of what can be done in the short time available? Should we put aside prejudices and embrace whatever technologies will do the job?

While the threat of global warming and extreme weather conditions is well documented, Tom concludes that the elephant in the room may be rising sea level. He concludes that irrespective of what action is taken, ice cap melting is difficult to reverse and could go on for hundreds of years with serious consequences for our coastal cities.

Tom deals with the big issues of Global Warming, Climate Change, and Alternative Energy from the perspective of a well-informed scientist, a person who has worked in the field of Climate Science in the UK, US and Australia.

Tom is currently a Professor at the University of Adelaide and has affiliations with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and the University of East Anglia in the UK. He was also named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his major contributions to climate and carbon cycle modelling and to climate data analysis. He developed and continues to update the widely used climate model MAGICC.