SAMSI Public Lecture – The Storm Next Time: Hurricanes and Climate Change

This lecture is free and open to the public.

Lecture introduced by Carol L. Folt, Chancellor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Presented by: Dr. Kerry Emanuel, Prof. of  Atmospheric Science, MIT

Date/Time: Monday, October 9, 2017 @ 7:30pm

Location: Genome Sciences Building, G100 auditorium, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Abstract:

The recent tragedies of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, together with earlier extreme events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, has raised the question whether the apparent increasing severity of such events can be attributed to the human influence on greenhouse gas warming. Dr. Emanuel will review the growing consensus that the incidence of the strongest storms will increase over time, even though there may be a decline of the far more numerous weaker events.

Biography:

Dr. Kerry Emanuel is the Cecil and Ida Green professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has been on the faculty since 1981, after spending three years on the faculty of UCLA. Professor Emanuel’s research interests focus on tropical meteorology and climate, with a specialty in hurricane physics. His interests also include cumulus convection, and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction. He is the author or co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and three books, including Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes, published by Oxford University Press and aimed at a general audience, and What we Know about Climate Change, published by the MIT Press. He is co-director of MIT’s Lorenz Center, a climate think tank devoted to basic, curiosity driven climate research.

Photo of Hurricane Harvey courtesy of Joe Raedle, Getty Images