Aspen Global Change Institute



Login About AGCI Contact Us Please select a workshop:

HOME :: About

      Our Board
      Funding
      News

Bookmark this page and check back in regularly to find out what we've been up to!

News
27 July 2010 AGCI Remembers Stephen H. Schneider
	We were deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of Stephen H. Schneider. Stephen's tireless work inspired multiple generations to research and respond to global environmental change, and he made a significant and enduring contribution to the Aspen Global Change Institute. Here is a short video of highlights from Dr. Schneider's numerous contributions to AGCI workshops and public lectures:


23 June 2010 AGCI Workshop on Sun Concludes
	Last month, 28 scientists from North America and Europe met to better understand our dynamic Sun and its influence on the Earth system. In keeping with the AGCI workshop model, this was an interdisciplinary gathering that brought together the many diverse fields working to uncover the complex relationship between the Sun and the Earth's climate and human systems. Please follow the link below to view presentations delivered at the meeting, as well as a roster and extended description. Check back soon for the complete video record of the workshop.
	Link to Workshop Page

14 June 2010 AGCI Holds Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Sun-Earth System
	This week, a group of thirty international scientists is convening at AGCI to assess the current scientific understanding about the Sun-Earth system and its contribution to global change. Made possible with a grant from NASA, a primary area of focus during the meeting will be to better understand the impact of solar variability on Earth's climate over a range of timescales. Anticipated results from the meeting will be to more adequately understand from an interdisciplinary perspective the sun's influence on Earth systems including risks to technological infrastructure and to establish priorities for future research into this topic.
	Review paper about solar influences on climate by Judith Lean Details on AGCI Solar-Terrestrial Workshop

24 May 2010 Journey to the Sun
	While the Sun appears to be a constant fixture in our daily lives, it actually is tremendously dynamic. These changes have important implications for the Earth's environment and human society, and thus there is a great need to understand our Sun better. To this end, NASA recently launched a billion dollar satellite called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Here's a great video explaining the SDO mission and why it's important to us: QUEST on KQED Public Media.


26 April 2010 The Sun Up Close
	The first imagery from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observer has been released and is out on youtube. Launched in February 2010, the SDO will help us to learn more about the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. Information about the SDO mission is available on the SDO website. More about the impact of the Sun on Earth will be discussed at the upcoming AGCI workshop, "Global Change and the Solar-Terrestrial Environment," to be held June 12-17. You can read more about this meeting by following the link below, and check back soon for information on a public lecture to be held coincident with the meeting.
	AGCI Workshop: Global Change and the Solar-Terrestrial Environment

19 April 2010 Changing Plans for a Changing Climate
	Climate change is creating new realities for water resource planning. The traditional method of planning relied on the assumption that weather statistics would stay the same and variability would not increase in the future--a concept known as climate stationarity. Today, however, climate change is expected to result in larger alterations to precipitation, temperature, streamflow, groundwater, and evaporation than those accounted for in the older models. This means resource planners must work to understand the implications of climate change on water resources and incorporate this knowledge into new planning methods. A blueprint for new planning methods was recently offered in a report by the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA), a group hosted by AGCI at the recent workshop, "Advanced Climate Modeling and Decision-Making Support of Climate Services." You can read WUCA's report as well as view videos and presentations related to the climate services workshop below.
	WUCA Report: Decision Support Planning Methods Presentations from AGCI Meeting on Climate Services

12 April 2010 Geoengineering Discussion Heats Up
	A group of 175 experts convened last week in Asilomar, California to discuss the implications of climate intervention technologies, also known as geoengineering. Proposed strategies in the realm of geoengineering include solar radiation management--cooling the Earth by reflecting sunlight--or carbon remediation--actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although geoengineering is the subject of great controversy, the meeting was held to discuss the ethical standards that would govern future scientific research on the topic. Some are concerned that without stringent ethical standards and improved scientific understanding, proposed technologies could be deployed irresponsibly in the event of a future climate emergency. You can read the group statement the proceeded from the meeting here. Below are some additional resources on the ethics and science behind geoengineering.
	Geoengineering policy statement by Am. Meteorological Soc. 1998 AGCI report on geoengineering and other CO2 stabilization strategies AGCI Public Lecture video on geoengineering

1 December 2009 Advancements in Decadal Prediction
	As infrastructure planners and resource managers become more aware of the looming impacts of climate change, increased attention has focused on "decadal prediction"--climate modeling that can forecast climate for the next 10-30 years. Three key variables that operate at the decadal scale are the climate commitment from existing GHG emissions, external forcing from new GHG emissions, and the climate system's internal variability. In the summer of 2008, a group of climate modelers from Japan, England, Australia, Germany, and France along with modelers from the U.S. came together at the Aspen Global Change Institute to explore modeling skill at the decadal timescale and to develop an experimental framework for decadal prediction. The framework developed at this meeting will contribute to the experimental design for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Model, phase 5 (CMIP5), which will eventually support the upcoming IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). Participants at the meeting recently published the framework developed at the Aspen meeting in the October issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society. In addition, numerous technical presentations and slideshows on the topic of decadal prediction are available on our website.
	BAMS Article on Decadal Prediction AGCI Presentations on Decadal Prediction

5 November 2009 Congress Investigates Implications of Geoengineering
	Over the past year, there has been much discussion about geoengineering-the technological concept that could enable humans to offset the effects of global warming. The origin of the concept goes back decades, but as concerns about global warming rise, geoengineering is receiving heightened attention, as well as controversy. On November 5, the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology convened a hearing to address specifically the topic of geoengineering. AGCI board member, Ken Caldeira, testified before the committee. Geoengineering was also the focus of an AGCI meeting more than a decade ago entitled, Innovative Energy Systems and CO2 Stabilization. At the meeting, Gregory Benford delivered a public lecture about the challenges and opportunities associated with geoengineering. Another informative presentation about geoengineering by Grainger Morgan, a past participant in AGCI workshops, was given at a Council on Foreign Relations workshop in 2008.
	Ken Caldeira's Testimony to House Committee Science & Technology Committee Hearing on Geoengineering

27 October 2009 Climate Services in the National, Global Forecast
	Over the past year, there has been growing interest worldwide in the development of climate services. Climate services is a new concept that would streamline communication between climate scientists and decision makers. It would provide accessible scientific knowledge for informing adaptation and long-term planning policy in response to climate change. Climate services was the topic of two recent meetings: the World Climate Conference-3 (WCC-3) in Geneva, Switzerland and AGCI's 2009 Climate Services workshop in Aspen, CO. At the Aspen meeting, leading climate scientists and water resource managers from around the country met to share ideas about what could eventually become a national climate service. An informative overview of developments in climate services was recently posted on the RealClimate blog.


25 June 2009 *In Science: Nutrient Imbalances in Agricultural Development*
	In 2008, AGCI convened a small working group of scientists to discuss anthropogenic changes in the cycles of nitrogen and phosphorous, and identify the information needed for society to effectively respond to these changes. An article summarizing the findings of this group was published in the 19 June 2009 edition of Science. The authors outline how nutrient additions to intensive agricultural systems range from inadequate to excessive -- and how both extremes have substantial human and environmental costs. Regional case-studies are presented for three contrasting agricultural systems: Northern China, sub-Saharan Africa, and the mid-western United States. The New York Times' Andy Revkin reports on the Science article in his Dot Earth blog. Scientific American and Science Daily also reported on the paper.
	Science: Nutrient Imbalances in Agricultural Development New York Times Dot Earth blog: Fertilizer Divide: Too Much, Not Enough

1 May 2009 The Role of Northern Eurasia and its role in the climate system addressed in BAMS publication
	Little is known about the biogeochemical, energy, and water cycles of the Northern Eurasian landmass, a carbon-rich region capable of significantly influencing global climate. In response to this deficiency, AGCI hosted a Northern Eurasian Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) workshop to better understand and quantify biophysical feedbacks between Northern Eurasia and the global climate. A product of this workshop, this BAMS article summarizes the first group of NEESPI projects, which have mostly focused on assembling regional databases, organizing improved environmental monitoring of the region, and studying the individual environmental processes.
	BAMS article: The Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership

27 April 2009 AGCI Publishes Article in Switzerland's Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter
	In April 2009, AGCI contributed an article to the second edition of MRI News, a publication of the Mountain Research Initiative (Switzerland) which journals global change science from mountain regions around the world. The article, titled, "Colorado's Roaring Fork River: Incorporating Climate Change Projections into Watershed Management," summarizes the efforts taken in 2008 to incorporate climate change considerations into the Roaring Fork Watershed planning process, and outlines a strategy for implementing recommended next steps.
	MRI News article: Colorado's Roaring Fork River Mountain Research Initiative website

4 December 2008 State of the Roaring Fork Watershed Report Incorporates Chapter on Climate Change
	In an effort to incorporate climate change projections into the watershed planning process, AGCI contributed a chapter (chapter 3.5) to the 2008 State of the Roaring Fork Watershed Report, which represents a first step towards developing a comprehensive Watershed Plan for the region. The chapter attempted to 1) summarize climate observations and projections for the region, 2) assess the potential impacts of climate change on runoff and water-dependent ecosystems within the watershed, as well as impacts to local socioeconomics and regional water demand, and 3) identify data gaps and insufficiencies in the current water planning process, and recommend action steps to be taken in order to prepare effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce the watershed's vulnerability to climate change. The project was sponsored by the Reudi Water & Power Authority and managed by the Roaring Fork Conservancy.
	Climate Change & the Roaring Fork Watershed (Chapter 3.5) Executive Summary of the 2008 State of the Watershed Report The Roaring Fork Watershed plan website and complete report

13 November 2007 Eos Report: "Northern Eurasia in the Global Earth System"
	A summary of the Aspen Global Change Institute's 2007 summer science session "Northern Eurasia Land Surface Properties and Change and Its Role in the Global Earthy System" was published in the November 2007 edition of Eos. The synopsis emphasizes Northern Eurasia's global importance and stresses the need for comparing models across multiple high latitude regions. The supplementary material highlights the current status, points to the major deficiencies in the data and knowledge, and suggests the future objectives for research in the high-latitude region.
	Eos Article Supplementary material

3 June 2007 World Climate Research Programme Publishes White Paper based on AGCI's 2006 Earth System Modeling Workshop
	The conclusions of Aspen Global Change Institute's 2006 summer science session "Earth System Models: The Next Generation" were published in the May 2007 edition of the World Climate Research Programme Summary Report. The synopsis brings to light what models, scenarios and strategies researchers now must consider next in order to best track emissions on both the short- and long-term scales in light of current and future techniques.
	Report: A strategy for climate change stabilization experiments with AOGCMs and ESMs

9 May 2007 EPA Recognizes the Aspen Climate Impacts Assessment with Highest Regional Award to the City of Aspen
	In May 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Aspen Global Change Institute in conjunction with the City of Aspen the agency's Environmental Achievement Award - the EPA's highest regional honor. The award recognizes AGCI's and the City of Aspen's work in commissioning the "Aspen Climate Impacts Assessment" report for its use as a tool in motivating action on global warming.
	Press release

26 July 2006 AGCI Releases Aspen Climate Impacts Assessment
	As part of the Canary Initiative, AGCI contracted with the City of Aspen in May 2005 to author a study to determine the likely consequences of global warming on the City of Aspen. The report focuses on climatological, snowpack, ecological, socioeconomic and streamflow-related impacts to the Roaring Fork Valley.
	Press release Full report

Warning: mktime() expects parameter 4 to be long, string given in /home1/agciorg/public_html/about/news.php on line 103 31 December 1969

Our Board Funding News

News

Our Board
Funding
News