Climate Change 101: From Basic Physics to Global Policy
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, mankind has been running an unprecedented physical and socio-economic experiment. We are increasing Earth’s temperature, altering all aspects of Earth’s climate, and putting greater pressure than ever before on both natural and human systems.
In trying to understand the consequences of our actions, climate science is faced with a unique problem: we are in the middle of the experiment, and—unlike experiments in almost any other branch of science—we cannot replicate it in a laboratory. There is no miniature version of Earth that we can put under a microscope or in an accelerator.
In this talk, I will present some basic tenets of climate physics and give you an introduction to how scientists make sense of changes in Earth’s climate and their societal consequences.
Learn more about Professor Cristian Proistosescu on the Atmospheric Science website: https://atmos.illinois.edu/directory/profile/cristi
High school students can also register for this event here: https://enroll.illinois.edu/register/saturday_physics_9_23_2023