Please join us for a three-part lecture series on the science of climate change, presented by visiting Rotman Institute scholar  Professor Roman Frigg.

  • September 15, 3pm-5pm: Lecture 1: Basic Concepts in Climate Science—Location: Stevenson Hall, Room 1140
  • [Lecture 1 slides here]
  • September 17, 3pm-5pm: Lecture 2: Climate Modelling—Location: Stevenson Hall, Room 2150H
  • [Lecture 2 slides here ]
  • September 19, 3pm-5pm: Lecture 3: The limits of predictability—Location: Stevenson Hall, Room 2150H
  • [Lecture 3 slides here]

 

Abstract:
 
This three-part lecture series focuses on the natural science aspects of climate change, as well as the methodological and philosophical questions that arise in connection with them. Everybody wishing to understand the basic physics behind climate change and the use of climate models is welcome to attend; no prior knowledge is presupposed. The first lecture explains the earth’s energy balance and introduces basic concepts such as the greenhouse effect, radiative forcing, time lags, feedback loops, climate sensitivity and climate variability. The second lecture introduces climate models, ensemble methods, and discusses what kinds of uncertainties attach to them. The third lecture discusses recent projects aiming to deliver high-resolution climate forecasts out to the end of the century and raises questions about the limits of predictability.
 
 
 
Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), and Co-Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series (CATS) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a permanent visiting professor in the Munich Centre for Mathematical Philosophy of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and he will be a visiting fellow in the Rotman Institute of Philosophy of the University of Western Ontario from August to October this year.