Looking Ahead to Maryland 2050: Living in Our Environment

Abstracts

Panel I: Global Drivers and their Local Influences

Climate Variability

Antonio Busalacchi, Director, Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center

Abstract
Understanding climate and whether it is changing, and why, is one of the most crucial questions facing humankind in the twenty-first century.  This question is the subject of much scientific research and, of course, policy debate, since the economic and environmental implications are large.  There is wide scientific consensus that climate is indeed changing. Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise.   Our confidence in this conclusion is higher today than it was ten, or even five years ago.  Yet, uncertainty remains because there is a level of natural variability inherent in the climate system on time scales of decades to centuries that can be difficult to interpret with precision because we gather this evidence from sparse observations, numerical models, and proxy records such as ice cores and tree rings.  Despite the uncertainties, however, there is widespread agreement that the observed warming is real and particularly strong within the past twenty years. This presentation will discuss the state of the science, with emphasis on the outstanding research questions that need to be addressed in making the transition from global climate change, to modulation of climate variability, down to regional manifestations of changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme climatic events of critical importance to several sectors of society.

Speaker information
Antonio J. Busalacchi received his Ph.D. degree in oceanography from Florida State University in 1982. He has studied tropical ocean circulation and its role in the coupled climate system. His research in these areas has supported a range of international and national research programs dealing with global change and climate, particularly as affected by the oceans.  In 1999 he was appointed Co-Chairman of the Scientific Steering Group for the World Climate Research Programme on Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR). Presently, he serves as Chairman of the Climate Research Committee for the National Academy of Science/National Research Council. In 1982 he began his professional career at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. In 1991, he was appointed as Chief of the NASA/Goddard Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, and was responsible for research in the oceanic, cryospheric, and hydrologic sciences.  In year 2000, he was selected as the founding director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) at the University of Maryland and appointed to the faculty as Professor in the Department of Meteorology. The goal of ESSIC is to enhance understanding of how the atmosphere-ocean-land-biosphere components of the Earth interact as a coupled system. Professor Busalacchi has received numerous awards and honors. Among these, in 1991, he was the recipient of the prestigious Arthur S. Flemming Award, as one of five outstanding young scientists in the entire Federal Government. In 1995 he was selected as Alumnus of the Year at Florida State University, in 1997 he was the H. Burr Steinbach Visiting Scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in 1999 he was awarded the NASA/Goddard Excellence in Outreach Award and that same year chosen by President Clinton to receive the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award. He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and in 2006 was selected by the AMS to be the Walter Orr Roberts Interdisciplinary Science Lecturer.