Diary dates, cafe culture edition

The Dundee Cafe Science has an event on renewables on Monday:

Dr David Rodley from the University of Dundee Centre for Renewable Energy will speculate on how the energy landscape in Scotland and the wider UK might look in the future. Will carbon become the new currency as extreme targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions begin to bite? Can Scotland achieve its goal for 100% equivalent renewable electricity, and how might smart metering help keep the lights on, and affordable?

Details here.

Diary dates, navel gazing edition

The Guardian has organised one of those Guardianesque events at which they get a lot of greens together to discuss how green things should be:

Are the media contributing to the problem of climate change through apocalyptic stories, or by giving equal airtime to sceptics despite the scientific consensus? Could better reporting help us feel less hopeless and helpless?

• Anne Karpf is Reader at London Metropolitan University and a freelance journalist

• John Vidal is environment editor of The Guardian

• James Painter, of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford, is author of 'Climate Change and the Media'

• Sally Weintrobe is a psychoanalyst and editor of 'Engaging with Climate Change'.

 It's on the 18th November in London. Details here.

Diary date, Westminster edition

This Wednesday lunchtime, there's an event at Westminster that may well be of interest to readers:

#RepealClimateAct

Speakers include Roger Helmer UKIP MEP: A practical UK energy policy - explaining what is needed and how the EU is driving the UK's energy crisis.

More details here.

Diary dates, Hardaker edition

The Institute of Physics' London Branch is to have a lecture from the Institute's new head, Professor Paul Hardaker.

Challenges in Predicting the Weather and Climate Wednesday, 19 November 2014, 18:00 – 20:00

Meteorology is still a relatively young science with lots of interesting challenges remaining for physicists in improving predictions of our weather and climate. The talk will outline the some of these science challenges, including the contributions made from developments in modelling and observations and how we handle uncertainty in predictions. The talk will also touch on the challenges of communicating the science to the public and policymakers.

Details here.

Diary dates, modelling edition

The Rotman Institute of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario has an interesting conference this autumn:

We are delighted to announce that the Rotman Institute of Philosophy will host its second annual conference, Knowledge and Models in Climate Science, on Oct. 24-26, 2014.  The conference will bring together researchers to discuss the use of models in understanding the climate from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.  Models and computer simulations are essential not only for understanding the factors determining climate processes, but also for evaluating how changes in climate will affect ecosystems and human societies.  Recent gains in modeling precision and realism have allowed climate researchers to address both questions more confidently, yet there are many remaining sources of uncertainty. Participants in the conference will explore different approaches to modeling in order to gain a better understanding of the nature, strengths and limitations of the knowledge it produces, and build a better understanding of the means by which these uncertainties can be managed.

Click to read more ...

Diary dates, fracking edition

Some more dates for your diary.

On Wednesday at 8pm, BBC Radio 4 is going to look at fracking, in the first of a new series that looks at intractable differences and sees where common ground can be found:

Most discussion formats set out to define opposing points of view and offer the listener a choice between them - maximum disagreement, minimum consensus. Agree to Differ is Radio 4's new discussion programme where the aim is to give listeners a completely new way to understand a controversial issue and to decide where they stand. Often when it comes to debates in these contested areas the protagonists spend more time attacking and caricaturing each other than they do addressing the heart of the issue. Agree to Differ will use techniques from mediation and conflict resolution to discover what really divides them - and just as important - if there's anything they can agree on. The mediator is Matthew Taylor the chief executive of the RSA and subjects for this first series will be fracking, vivisection and the future of Jerusalem.

Matthew Taylor has deeply "right-on" views, and indeed had the RSA doing research into individual carbon allowances - what I call "carbon communism" - at one time. Nevertheless I have always had the impression that he favours open debate, so I hold out considerable hopes for this programme.

Then on Friday we have a debate on fracking at the Edinburgh Book Festival (tickets here). This will feature a geologist, Zoe Shipton of the University of Strathclyde, against Richard Dixon of Friends of the Earth. Shipton seems to be thoroughly mainstream, both on global warming and on fracking (she also features in an edition of Life Scientific here). Friends of the Earth need little introduction of course, being one of the most disreputable of the green groups. I'm looking forward to the outrage from the sci-policy people about a scientist being given equal billing with a pressure group.

Diary dates: Slingalongajulia edition

Julia Slingo is giving a public lecture at the Institute of Physics in London next month on the subject of climate models.

Taking the planet into uncharted territory: What climate models can tell us about the future

Climate change is arguably one of the greatest challenges that human civilisation will face in the 21st century. With the rise in carbon emissions continuing unabated and the evidence for human-induced climate change stacking up, the need to take action to mitigate future climate change grows. So what are these climate models on that so much of our decision-making rests?

Dame Julia’s lecture will examine how fundamental physics has shaped our understanding of the climate system, and how over the course of her career as a climate scientist, this has been encapsulated in climate models.

Click to read more ...

Tol in the Commons

Philip Foster writes with an important scheduling change for Richard Tol's appearance at the House of Commons.

We have had a last minute problem with a meeting planned with Richard Tol in Westminster.

Our MP (Sammy Wilson) was told yesterday that the committee room booked was now not available.

The new schedule has to be as follows:

Palace of Westminster
Wednesday 9th July 2014
Committee Room 20
12noon - 2pm

Diary date: Exetertwitterers edition

On 8 May, the University of Exeter is holding a Twitter-based Q&A session with some of its climate gurus:

Do you have a burning question about climate science?

We’ll be letting our researchers take over the @UofE_Research Twitter account on Thursday 8 May between 11.30 – 12.30. Professors Neil Adger, Mat Collins, Peter Cox, Richard Betts, and Dr Saffron O'Neill will be on hand to answer your questions on the latest developments in climate science. Each of our participants has contributed to the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.

Details here.

Diary dates: Laframboise European tour

From Donna's blog

This Thursday, I’ll be addressing the International Conference on Climate and Energy, which is being held in Mannheim, Germany (info here).

Also on the program: meteorologist Richard Lindzen, geologist Sebastian Lüning, astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, and solar physicist Henrik Svensmark.

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Click to read more ...

Diary date: Exeter

The University of Exeter is to hold a conference in May to discuss where the global warming movement goes in the aftermath of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report.

International experts will discuss the future of climate change research following the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report.

The Transformational Climate Science conference, hosted by the University of Exeter in partnership with the Met Office and University of Leeds, takes place on 15 and 16 May.

Globally renowned researchers will share their perspectives on the cutting-edge of science and social science.

Details here.

Diary date: correct messages edition

The Environmental Physics group of Institute of Physics has organised a meeting to look at how scientists and journalists can work together to convey "the correct messages". It's on 27 March in London.

The degree to which humans are influencing the physical mechanisms that are causing the Earth’s climate system to warm, remains a controversial subject that has caused passionate and heated debates in the news media.

As the public gather most of their information on these issues from newspapers, TV, radio and the internet, the way that evidence is communicated by scientists to journalists is a crucial factor in the public understanding of climate science.

Through group discussions and a number of keynote talks, the aim of this event is to bring together environmental scientists, journalists and science communicators to discuss the ways in which communications in climate science can be improved, and what each of the stakeholders can do to present their work more effectively.

The event will also cover how scientists work with public engagement officers and journalists to ensure that they are conveying the correct messages.

Details here.

Diary date: IPCC edition

On 5 February next year, the Royal Meteorological Society is having a meeting in London to discuss the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report.

Lead Authors of the report will present key new findings of the AR5, and the associated evidence base, also highlighting outstanding research challenges.  The target audience is the UK climate science community and other interested scientists. The meeting is being organised by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the Met Office, the Royal Meteorological Society and the Environmental Physics Group of the Institute of Physics.

Details here.

Diary dates, Scotland edition

A couple of dates for readers north of the border.

First up, Murry Salby has added a Scottish date to his UK speaking tour. He will be appearing at the The Links Hotel, Edinburgh on Thursday 7th November,7 - 9pm. Entry is free, but please early booking is advised. Contact: Mike Haseler, tel 0845 10 88 500 or by email.

Then on 24 November, Scotland Against Spin are having a conference in Stirling

The Cost of Wind Energy: How much will we really have to pay…?

• Professor Gordon Hughes, School of Economics, Edinburgh University
• Jeremy Nicolson,  Director of the Energy Intensive Users Group
• Dr Mike Hall, President of Friends of Eden Lakeland & Lunesdale Scenery
• Mike Stigwood, Director of MAS Environmental

and

• Keynote Speaker Fergus Ewing (MSP)* Scottish Government Minister for Energy, Enterprise & Tourism

Tickets: £10 (registered SAS Supporters)/£15 (non-registered). Includes a light lunch, and refreshments. For further information and to book tickets, please contact Sarah at info@scotlandagainstspin.org or on 07715 106032.

Since Ewing hasn't actually confirmed that he's going to appear I think readers should only rely on the first four names actually showing up on the day. That said, I'm sure it will be fun.

Diary date: Murry Salby

Murry Salby, who studies the carbon dioxide budget from his base in Australia, is visiting the UK at the start of November and will give a number of talks - two in London and one in Cambridgeshire.

Details are available at the link below.

Itinerary