Recent Notices of Ottawa Centre CMOS MeetingsUpcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 20 April 2023 Speaker: Yifeng Wang, PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University Title: Revisiting the distribution of peatland permafrost in coastal Labrador Abstract: Northern peatlands cover about 4 million km2, and half of these peatlands are estimated to contain permafrost and periglacial landforms, such as palsas and peat plateaus. In Labrador, northeastern Canada, peatland permafrost landforms are largely predicted to be present in the interior and absent along the coastline. However, few observations of these landforms in the interior, coupled with extensive use of coastal perennially frozen peatlands for traditional activities by Labrador Inuit and Innu suggests a need for further investigations. In 2020, the Northern Environmental Geoscience Laboratory began a new research program to better understand the distribution, characteristics, and sensitivity of peatland permafrost in coastal Labrador using a combination of research methods including remote sensing, machine learning, field investigations, and thermal modelling. The first stage of this project involved the development of a consensus-based inventory of prospective peatland permafrost complexes using high-resolution satellite imagery. The inventory, which identified over 1000 likely peatland permafrost complexes within 100 km of the Labrador Sea coastline, has been validated with extensive field visits and low-altitude aerial photography and videography. A coastal gradient for palsa and peat plateau distribution was identified and is thought to be attributed to a combination of climatic and geomorphological influences. Other initiatives as part of this overarching project include historical air photo analysis to identify the scale of thaw at selected complexes over the past 70 years and characterization of contemporary peatland permafrost landform heights, sizes, and associated snow and vegetation conditions at selected complexes along the coast using remotely piloted aircraft surveys. This work provides an important baseline for future mapping, modelling, and climate change adaptation strategy development in northeastern Canada. BIO:  Yifeng Wang has been working in the North for several years, with a focus on permafrost studies in Labrador, northeastern Canada. Her research is currently focused on investigating the distribution and sensitivity of peatland permafrost in coastal Labrador. Yifeng is a member of the Northern Environmental Geoscience Laboratory (NEGL), led by Dr. Robert Way, and is interested in understanding how climate and ecosystem change will impact northern systems, environments, and communities. LOCATION : Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Thursday 20 April 2023, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP: Meeting will take place on Zoom. Please register in advance for this meeting. Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 23 March 2023 Speaker: Igor Shkvorets, RBR Ltd. Title: Sail for Science - How Small Craft Can Fill Gaps In Global Coastal Ocean Observations Abstract: The world ocean is the global thermodynamic engine of weather and climate; without ocean data collection on a global scale, it is impossible to define problems of climate change. Modern oceanographic data collection technologies include four thousand autonomous Argo floats, deployed globally in all oceans. These profile every 10 days from a depth of 2000m to the surface to collect temperature, salinity and other physical-chemical data. The rest of the time the floats drift while parked at a depth of 1000m. This depth limits the areas of use of Argo floats in coastal waters where, when reaching shallow water, their mission is usually terminated. The cohort of Argo floats may be complemented by a flotilla of small craft. To help fill this gap in oceanographic data, the author co-founded a non-for-profit project "Sail for Science" www.sailforscience.com, with the following objectives: 1. To collect low-cost high-quality oceanographic data using RBR Ltd. (Ottawa, Canada) compact, reliable, easy operating CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) systems; and 2. To develop a methodology and best practice recommendations for citizen scientists on how to use RBR CTD systems to collect data, provide Quality Control of data, and transfer these data to the National Oceanographic Data Centres. The presentation demonstrates how modern measurement technologies make it possible to expand citizen science to the new level of collecting high-precision oceanographic data. BIO:  Igor Shkvorets is a Calibration Engineer/Oceanographer at RBR Ltd (Canada, Ottawa). He was trained at Odessa Hydrometeorological Institute (Ukraine). He has worked for 20 years in the Marine Hydrophysical Institute of Academy of Science of Ukraine in the Department of Metrology and has been working for 20 years at RBR Ltd, taking part in development and calibration of RBR CTD systems, and has participated in numerous scientific cruises. He also maintains an informative website www.salinometry.com dedicated to the methods of measurement of seawater salinity, LOCATION : Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Thursday 23 March 2023, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP: Meeting will take place on Zoom. Please register in advance for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting in the subject line. Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 23 February 2023 Speaker: Dr. Shiliang (Dan) Shan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Space Science, Royal Military College of Canada Title: Wind-driven Coastal Upwelling off Nova Scotia Abstract: Coastal upwelling is a prominent oceanic process that brings nutrient-rich deep waters to the sunlit surface, thereby regulating many productive fisheries and marine ecosystems around the globe. How the frequency, intensity, and duration of coastal upwelling might shift in a warming climate is therefore a question of vital importance. In the first part of my presentation, I will discuss the temporal and spatial characteristics of the major wind-driven summertime coastal upwelling events off Nova Scotia. In the second part, I will examine trends in coastal upwelling off Nova Scotia over the past two decades based on observations made from various platforms, including marine buoys, remote-sensing satellites, and autonomous underwater gliders. A series of novel upwelling metrics are derived to describe coastal upwelling trends in terms of frequency, intensity, and duration. The predictability of observed upwelling trends is also explored by assessing the performance of coastal operational model products. BIO:  Shiliang (Dan) Shan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Space Science, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada. He is a physical oceanographer who specializes in numerical predictions of coastal and shelf circulations. He received the Ph.D. degree in physical oceanography from Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada in 2016. He was an NSERC Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada from 2017 to 2018. His research programme focuses on the understanding and modelling of the hydrodynamics of fjords, continental shelves, and inland lakes. His current research activities cover several aquatic environments across Canada, including the Halifax Harbour on the East Coast, Kitimat Fjord on the West Coast, the Pangnirtung Fjord on the Arctic Coast, and the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario of the Great Lakes. LOCATION : Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Thursday 23 February 2023, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP: Meeting will take place on Zoom. Please register in advance for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting in the subject line. Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 25 November 2022 Speaker: Professor Parisa A. Ariya, Department of Chemistry and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Title: Nano-and microparticles in the era of Climate Change and COVID-19: Novel observation technologies, transformations, and sustainable remediation Abstract: Particles, nano, micro and macro-particles, are ubiquitous on Earth. They are chemically, physically, and biologically diverse. They are naturally produced or increasingly through numerous anthropogenic activities, namely medicine-health, chemical industries, materials, construction, transport, communication, aerospace, agriculture, and energy sectors. Air pollution, particularly airborne nano-size particles, have been identified as the cause of about 6 million premature deaths (WHO, 2020). Aerosols are also significant in climate change and Earth’s energy processes. They play a role in radiation, ice nucleation and precipitation events (IPCC, 2018). The identified gap of knowledge by both the IPCC and the WHO are converging, and it becomes clear that they are related to the physicochemical characteristics of particles. Air and water are in motion, as are the particles in air and water. We should be able to observe, track, characterize and remediate in-situ and real-time in 4D (3 dimensions and time). In this talk, we provide an overview of the recent advances in this lab to help to fill the gap identified by the IPCC and the WHO in the age of climate change and COVID-19. We discuss the development of novel promising technologies for fast in-situ and real-time observation of aerosols and waterborne viruses and physicochemical transformations and ice nucleation of anthropogenic emerging nanoparticles (e.g., nano-plastics in air/water). We explore some links between fundamental studies that provide advances in designing zero-net energy and recyclable technology using natural particles in air and soil to remove gaseous and particulate matter in the hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere. BIO:  Professor Parisa Ariya is James McGill Chair in Chemistry, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Her physical-analytic chemistry laboratories explore particles, bridging chemical, physical and biological-health processes in air, and interfaces with water/snow, soil, and building surfaces. This lab currently designs novel analytical chemistry technologies at McGill University to track individual single and clusters of particles, including airborne virus droplets and aerosols, without needing particle trapping in milliseconds. They also develop ultra-trace chemical detection capabilities and remote-sensed (AI) recyclable nano-sensors. This lab contributes to solving the pollution enigma by developing sustainable remediation-recycling methods and technologies for pollutants (gaseous and particles, including bioaerosols such as airborne viruses, and emerging contaminants) with zero-net energy. It allows understanding of feedback mechanisms between atmospheric, biogeochemical and microphysical processes. Dr. Ariya has published >150 internationally peer-reviewed publications, four patents, a book, and > 300 proceedings. She has presented >140 invited lectures on four continents. Several of her research contributions have been distinguished internationally. She has had the privilege of mentoring over 180 bright, highly qualified personnel in her laboratories who all follow their career of choice; many have become global leaders in academia (26 faculty members), governments, industries (4 CEO), or start-ups. Dr. Ariya has served in several leadership positions, e.g., the principal investigator of major grant applications, leading or acting as a member of grant agencies in Canada, the U.S., the EU, Asia and South America, notably serving as the chairperson of the Joint European Union Panel on Arctic Climate Change. She has served as an Editor and on the Editorial Boards of several international journals, including Analytical Chemistry (ACS), Cambridge Press and the Royal Society for Chemistry (U.K.). Dr. Ariya has also served as the chairperson of McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Professor Ariya has served as the lead author of two United Nations Environmental Protection (UN-EP) chapters on metal transformation in the environment. In addition, she has contributed to policy-related scientific reports on toxic contaminants, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, an advisor to the House of Commons (CEPA revisions), Arctic assessment reports, and an advisor to Canadian Minamata convention delegates. Her numerous interviews have been distributed through major international mainstream and web-based media, from Spiegel and Washington times, translating science to the public and stakeholders. LOCATION : Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Friday 25 November 2022, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP: Meeting will take place on Zoom. Please register in advance for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting in the subject line. NEXT MEETINGS: CMOS Tour Speaker, Dr. Robert Way, Thursday November 17, on Climate Services in Canada's North: Are we doing enough? Please click here for more details and to register. Sabah Ibrahim, January 26, 2023, on climate agents Dan Shan, February 23, 2023 on coastal/shelf dynamics CMOS
National Fall Tour Speaker - Robert Way
November
17, 2022
Title: Climate Services in Canada's North: Are We Doing Enough? Recording: https://youtu.be/AsLV6he6gMs Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 20 October 2022 Speaker: Dr Ward Smith, Research Scientist, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Title: How may a changing climate impact cropping systems in Canada? Abstract: Understanding how climate change impacts crop growth and soil health in Canada and identifying ways to manage these impacts is especially important since temperatures in Canada are increasing faster than the global average. Historically we’ve seen how a warming climate can provide certain benefits as the available seasonal crop heat units and frost-free periods have increased over long-term historical averages. However, in the future, some agricultural regions could be subject to higher incidences of extreme drought, increased crop heat stresses and excess water. In this presentation, we will review the state of models and modelling procedures for predicting the impacts of climate change on cropping systems. We will demonstrate how crops in Canada may respond to climate change and discuss the benefits of adaptation by changing crop types, rotations, and fertilizer strategies. BIO: Dr. Ward Smith
Ward has 25 years’ experience leading research on identifying sustainable and resilient farm management practices in Canada. He integrates new research into agroecosystem models and investigates the interactions between climate, soils and agricultural management on crop growth, hydrology, GHG emissions, and soil carbon change. He uses these models to study ways to reduce adverse impacts of climate change on cropping systems and determines soils at risk in Canada. Ward chairs a World Meteorological Organization expert team on Agrometeorological Sciences and collaborates in international studies focused on improving and inter-comparing agricultural models and assessing the impacts of climate change on crop production. LOCATION : Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Thursday 20 October 2022, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP:
Meeting
will take
place on Zoom. Please register in advance
for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom
credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact
phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting
in the subject line. Prochain déjeuner-causerie virtuel / 29 septembre 2022 Speaker : Peter Kimbell : Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada Title : The southern Ontario derecho of May 21, 2022: an Environment and Climate Change Canada perspective. Abstract : Four years after the National Capital Region tornado outbreak of September 21, 2018, another summer convective storm affected southern Ontario (including the NCR), on May 21, 2022. This time, while the Northern Tornadoes Project did diagnose a few tornadoes, the storm’s primary manifestation was not tornadic. Rather, a linear convective system developed over southwestern Ontario, and maintained its linear characteristics throughout its trajectory across southeastern Ontario, the NCR, and into southern Quebec north of Montreal. Many people in Ontario and Quebec suddenly became familiar with the word “derecho,” which is Spanish for “straight ahead.” We will talk about derechos, including climatology, differences with tornadoes, and more. BIO : Peter Kimbell  Peter has been a meteorologist with Environment Canada for over 30 years. He began as an operational forecaster in Montreal and Toronto, and since then has worked as far east as Halifax and as far west as Thunder Bay. He has experience doing forecasting for marine and aviation clients, the military, and the general public. Since 2004 Peter has worked in a variety of non-forecasting positions, including policy advisor for international affairs, NAV CANADA Account Manager, A/Chief Aviation and Defence Services, A/Manager Performance Measurement, A/Manager Central Region Services, and A/Manager of the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre. Peter holds B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in meteorology from McGill University. PLACE : Virtual Presentation via Zoom TIME : Thursday 29 September, 11 h 45 EDT RSVP : The meeting will be held on Zoom. Please register here before the meeting. Next Meetings : Thursday 20 octobre 2022 - Ward Smith, Research Scientist, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on How may a changing climate impact cropping systems in Canada? Friday 25 novembre 2022 - Parisa Ariya, McGill University Prof. on "Airborne Transmission of Viruses and COVID Management". Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 21 April 2022 Speaker: Dr. Ellen Field, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Title: Role
of Education in Climate Action: Research-Informed Engagement In this talk, Dr. Ellen Field will discuss how education is, and, has been an overlooked mitigation strategy and how education policy can be instrumental as part of a multi-pronged approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Gaps in current education policy at Canadian regional jurisdictions (provincial and territorial) and national levels will be discussed along with best practices of climate change education from empirical research studies. In addition, this talk will consider lessons the formal education system can learn from the youth climate justice movement, and possible pathways for responsive education systems that focus on transformative and transgressive pedagogies. Audience members will take away insights on how education is instrumental to climate action and suggested ways to engage various segments of the population in climate change education. BIO:
Ellen
Field is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at LOCATION: Virtual presentation via Zoom. TIME: Thursday, 21 April 2022, 11:45 AM, EDT RSVP: Meeting will take place on Zoom. Please register in advance for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting in the subject line.PAST MEETINGS: Click here for CMOS YouTube Channel containing recordings from most past virtual meetings. NEXT MEETINGS: CMOS
Congress - virtual from Saskatoon, 1-3 and 6-8 June 2022 CMOS Tour Speaker - 17 March 2022 Speaker : Dr. Eric Oliver Title: Bridging knowledge systems: Scientific and Inuit knowledge of the ocean and sea ice BIO:
Abstract : Science and Inuit both have ways of knowing with a rich understanding of climate, the ocean and sea ice. These understandings are distinct and independent, yet complementary. Is it possible to bridge these two knowledge systems so as to inform each from the other? Is it even desirable? As a Labrador Inuk working in the scientific field of oceanography I have spent the four years exploring these questions. While they cannot be answered simply, I will provide my perspective and experience working at the interface between scientific and Inuit knowledge of the ocean. My research team and collaborators in the Nunatsiavut Government and in Inuit communities in the region, have been undertaking a number of related project and activities along these lines. Inuit knowledge of the coastal ocean and sea ice is being documented using participatory mapping and interview methods. We are developing ways recording Inuit observations of the environment, rooted in and referencing local traditional knowledge and focusing on that which Inuit consider important and of value. Scientific measurements of coastal ocean temperature, salinity, and ocean currents are being made through community-based monitoring programmes with representation in most communities in Nunatsiavut who are providing their expertise in choosing locations, times, and methods of accessing field sites. Finally, we are developing numerical ocean models for the region with Inuit Knowledge providing both ground-truths against which we can validate the model as well as informing hypothesis and model experiments. We have also been exploring the role that land-based activities, including research workshops, can play in this process. We are encouraged by the points of contact between science and Inuit knowledge that have emerged – such as maps, conceptual models, hypotheses – and that these can play the role of boundary objects to facilitate dialogue between these two knowledge systems. Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 17 February 2022 Speaker: Elyn
Humphreys, Professor in the Department of Geography & Environmental
Studies at
Title:
Methane emissions from the Hudson Bay Lowlands Abstract: The
Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) is the largest contiguous peatland complex in
We measured CH4 fluxes using the eddy covariance technique at four HBL peatland sites with different vegetation and peat characteristics over several years. Total seasonal emissions ranged from 2.6 to 7.2 g CH4 m-2 (Apr 1 – Nov 30) with the highest values at the wettest and warmest peatland, a patterned fen, and the lowest at the driest and coolest peatland, a raised peat plateau with permafrost. Year-to-year variability in CH4 emissions was less than site-to-site variability. These measurements can help constrain recent top-down estimates of HBL-wide CH4 budgets. We also discuss how these measurements can help us understand the potential impacts of warming, drying and thaw on HBL CH4 emissions. BIO:
Elyn
Humphreys is a Professor in the Department of Geography &
Environmental Studies at Carleton University. LOCATION:
Virtual presentation via Zoom.
PAST MEETINGS: Click here for CMOS YouTube Channel containing recordings from most past virtual meetings NEXT MEETINGS: Thursday 17 March 2022 - Eric Oliver Experiences bridging knowledge systems (ocean science and Inuit Knowledge) in coastal Nunatsiavut. (NB. talk to be hosted jointly by the Ottawa and Halifax Centres) Thursday
21 April 2022 - Ellen Field Role of Education in Climate Action:
Research-informed engagement Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 20 January 2022 Speakers: Trevor Andersen and Astrid Schetselaar Titles: Trevor Andersen: Synoptic conditions leading to storm force winds in Hurricane Alley, km 450-465, Dempster Highway, Yukon Astrid Schetselaar: Increases in maintenance costs for highways due to climate change in Yukon
Abstracts:
Astrid Schletselaar: Climate warming is causing rapid and widespread environmental change in northern regions. Transportation networks in Canada’s North are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising ground temperatures and permafrost thaw have been a main cause of road damage as the bearing capacity of the ground is significantly reduced and subsequently subsides, leading to differential settlement of the road surface. Other road damage is due to increased precipitation which causes road washouts, icings, damage of culverts and landslides. Under current climate trends, it is expected that highway infrastructure in northern communities will require increased maintenance, incurring significant costs, in order to meet functional standards. This presentation will outline a quantified assessment of climate change-induced maintenance expenditures for highways in Yukon. Changes in expenditures linked to climate conditions will be discussed in relation to underlying permafrost and ground ice conditions. BIOs:
Trevor Andersen grew up in
Ottawa ON and completed his B.Sc. in Physical Geography at Carleton
University in April of 2020. He is currently completing his M.Sc. in
Geography at Carleton University under the supervision of Dr. Chris
Burn and Dr. Ian McKendry (UBC). His interest in meteorology originated
from experiencing Hurricane Charley while on vacation in Florida during
August 2004. Trevor’s introduction to the windstorms of Hurricane Alley
occurred while assisting another Masters student with her research
there.
LOCATION:
Virtual presentation via Zoom.
PAST MEETINGS: Click here for CMOS YouTube Channel containing recordings from most past virtual meetings. Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 18 November 2021 Speaker:
Stephan Gruber, Professor, Carleton University Title: Toward Permafrost Climate Services Abstract: The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) revealed the benefits of ambitious mitigation and effective adaptation and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action. But how do we best enable this effective adaptation and ambitious mitigation when it comes to permafrost thaw? In this presentation, I will explore the potential role of operational services. With the framing of climate services, several distinct challenges can be identified for permafrost climate services: (1) history – climate services evolved from e.g., National Weather Services, whereas permafrost services are rarely established, (2) perception – permafrost areas are in the periphery and hazards affect relatively few people directly, and (3) processes and paradigms – a new combination of research and capabilities related to the atmosphere and the subsurface are needed to generate future scenarios of permafrost thaw. Emerging permafrost climate services and initiatives will be discussed to illustrate the growing momentum that exists in Canada, for example NSERC PermafrostNet, and globally.
BIO:
Stephan
Gruber Stephan
is a Professor at Carleton University and the Canada Research
Chair in Climate Change Impacts/Adaptation in Northern
Canada. Previously, he worked at the University of Zurich
(Switzerland) and the Université de Savoie (France). His
education is in Physical Geography (Germany, Switzerland),
Environmental Systems Analysis and Monitoring (the
Netherlands), and Arctic Studies (Finland). Stephan's research
program quantifies permafrost thaw in Arctic and
high-mountain environments. NEXT MEETINGS:
- Trevor Andersen: Storm force winds in Hurricane Alley, KM 450-465, Dempster Highway, Yukon - Astrid Schetselaar: Increases in maintenance costs for highways due to climate change in Yukon Thursday 17 February 2022 - Dr. Elyn Humphreys Peatland / tundra methane flux studies Thursday 17 March 2022 - Eric Oliver Experiences bridging knowledge systems (ocean science and Inuit Knowledge) in coastal Nunatsiavut. (NB. talk to be hosted jointly by the Ottawa and Halifax Centres) Thursday 21 April 2022 - Ellen Field Role of Education in Climate Action: Research-informed engagement Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 21 October 2021 Speakers:
Dr. Alan
Betts, Atmospheric Research, Pittsford, Vermont Title: Climate Change and Society Abstract: This talk will be based upon this recent paper which I suggest you scan. "Climate Change and Society" DOI: 10.3934/geosci. 2021012 This examines our understanding of climate change, as well as the reluctance of industrial societies to deal with the drivers, especially the burning of the fossil fuels, before the consequences become catastrophic. I have worked as a professional scientist for 50 years, but I also realized 50 years ago that science alone is not enough to deal with pressing global issues, as it lacks a moral framework—it lacks wisdom. So I decided it was also my responsibility as a scientist to develop the skills to map out what drives the social framework and the social assumptions. I contrast the Earth-centered indigenous worldview needed for our survival (which has been systematically destroyed), with the industrial capitalist mindset of the Fossil fuel Empire that is destroying our stable climate to maximize profits. We review briefly the long history of the misuse of human power, and the rise of science and technology without a guiding moral framework. But the deceit and bribery of politicians by the Fossil Empire are no match for the Earth system response. We are seeing new climate extremes on a global scale that are destroying our fossil fuel and economic infrastructure in an attempt to save some of the Earth’s ecosystem.
BIO:
He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the Royal Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a past-president of the Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering (VASE). He has authored more than 175 reviewed papers in the scientific literature. He was the AMS Robert E. Horton Lecturer in Hydrology in 2004; and the AMS Jule Charney Award winner in 2007. In 2016, Alan Betts was the first recipient of the Bert Bolin Global Environmental Change Award from the American Geophysical Union. Atmospheric Research was established in Vermont in 1979. Its mission is to understand the Earth’s weather and climate, to develop improved earth system models and to help society understand the existential challenge of global climate change. LOCATION:
Virtual presentation via Zoom.
RSVP:
Meeting
will take
place on Zoom. Please register in
advance for this meeting. If you have registered and lost your Zoom
credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for this exact
phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting
in the subject line. NEXT MEETING: Thursday November 18th, speaker Dr. Stephan
Gruber on Permafrost Climate Services as a way to frame the
research in NSERC PermafrostNet Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / 23 September 2021 Speakers: Barbara Delisle and Peter Kimbell from Meteorological Service of Canada Title: Canadian Weather Radar - Public Display Update and Plans for Upgrading Franktown Site Abstract:
In 2017, the Government of Canada announced the replacement
of its weather radar network. At the time, the network consisted of 31
radars, including two operated in partnership with the Department of
National Defence and one owned by McGill University. A contract was
awarded to buy and install 32 to 33 new radars. They are S-band (10 cm)
radars, and utilize dual-polarization technology. One of the radars is
located in Franktown, in eastern Ontario, and was just commissioned
(August 2021). The presentation will provide an overview of the
network, the new technology, and the resulting improvement in our
ability to forecast the weather in eastern Ontario. The website www.weather.gc.ca is
getting a makeover that will allow you to view more weather products
and services. You probably noticed on March 29 that the RADAR product
changed on your favorite weather website! This was a first step towards
transforming the site, which now offers products and services
geo-referenced on a single map of Canada. As with every transformation,
a lot of reactions and adjustments were necessary. We will be happy to
provide you with an overview of the changes and improvements available
now and in the future.
BIOs: Federal public servant for 20 years, Barbara Delisle has acquired a diversified experience in the management of programs and services, in particular as the manager responsible for human resources compliance at the Communications Security Establishment, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Office of the Languages Commissioner. She then developed an information management and automated planning system for 26 research units at Employment and Social Development Canada, before joining the Benefits Directorate at the Treasury Board Secretariat, where she orchestrated the overhaul of business and project management processes. Barbara joined the Meteorological Service of Canada in March 2014. With her team of experts and technicians, she leads the way in maintaining operations on our broadcasting platforms and hardware and software transformations to improve and extend our services to the population. Through various internal and external partnerships with the organization, programmers, scientists and service agents, she made possible the transformation of voice systems, various website transitions and improvements to the mobile application. A change agent and vision maker, she proudly shares advancements in MSC IT service delivery. **** PETER
KIMBELL Peter has been a meteorologist with Environment Canada for over 30 years. He began as an operational forecaster in Montreal and Toronto, and since then has worked as far east as Halifax and as far west as Thunder Bay. He has experience doing forecasting for marine and aviation clients, the military, and the general public. Since 2004 Peter has worked in a variety of non-forecasting positions, including policy advisor for international affairs, NAV CANADA Account Manager, A/Chief Aviation and Defence Services, A/Manager Performance Measurement, A/Manager Central Region Services, and A/Manager of the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre. His substantive position (and the one he likes most) is that of Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for eastern Ontario. Peter holds B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in meteorology from McGill University. LOCATION:
Virtual presentation via Zoom.
RSVP:
Meeting
will take
place on Zoom. Please register
in advance for this meeting. If you have registered and
lost your Zoom credentials, search your inbox or already-read mail for
this exact phrase: CMOS Ottawa Centre Luncheon Meeting
in the subject line. NEXT MEETING: Thursday October 21, speaker Dr. Alan Betts, on "Science and Society Challenges". Upcoming CMOS Ottawa Centre Virtual Lunch Meeting / Thursday 29 April 2021 Speaker: Laura Twidle, Managing Director, Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) Title: The Impacts of Extreme Events on the Canadian Insurance Industry Abstract: While a global pandemic paused many aspects of our lives in 2020, extreme weather events gave us no reprieve. Natural and man-made disasters, known as “catastrophes,” in the insurance industry, broke global records around the world last year, and Canada was no exception. Insured losses in Canada from catastrophic events in 2020 were nearly CAN $2.4 billion, continuing the past decade’s trend of increasing annual losses. Identifying and preparing for the concerns of the more frequent, more severe extreme weather events anticipated by climate change is key to reducing impacts on Canadians. Insured loss data in combination with climate data and mitigation techniques can provide decision makers with the necessary information to act. This
presentation will provide an analysis of the meteorological factors at
work in natural catastrophes and the geographical distribution of
Canada’s NatCATs, with emphasis on 2020, using data collected by CatIQ,
Canada’s insured loss and exposure indices provider. Analysis will
include a close look at 2020 insured loss data and how it compares to
the Canadian catastrophe loss database.
BIO: Laura Twidle |
