Research Seminars @ Illinois

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Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu

Turco Speaker: Professor Mark Zelinka, LLNL

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Professor Cristian Proistosescu
Location
2079 NHB
Virtual
wifi event
Date
Oct 22, 2024   3:30 pm  
Views
93
Originating Calendar
CliMAS colloquia

Clearing the Clouds of Uncertainty

Climate sensitivity – the equilibrium response of Earth’s surface temperature to a doubling of carbon dioxide – is highly uncertain and leads to spread in our predictions of future climate change. Most of this uncertainty arises from radiative feedbacks that can amplify or diminish warming induced by carbon dioxide. Clouds, which act as a strong lever on the Earth’s radiation budget but have a complicated and largely unconstrained response to warming, are the primary driver of uncertainty. In this talk, I will explain the manifold reasons why clouds have historically been such an Achilles heel for our predictions of future climate and provide some recent examples of major progress being made to narrow these uncertainties. 

Bio: Mark Zelinka is an atmospheric scientist who researches climate change at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His work uses theory, observations, and global climate models to investigate climate sensitivity and cloud feedbacks. He received his BS in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 2004 and his PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington in 2010 before joining LLNL as a postdoc in 2011.

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