Climate Change and the Road to Glasgow COP26
Jerald Schnoor is the Allen S. Henry Chair in Engineering, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Co-director of the Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research. Schnoor’s research interests include phytoremediation, groundwater, and water sustainability with special fields of knowledge in water quality modeling, aquatic chemistry, and climate change. Dr. Schnoor is a registered Professional Engineer and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
A new report, the sixth in a series since 1990, Climate Change 2021:The Physical Science Basis was released this fall by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity.” Among its many findings, “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.” Widespread and rapid changes have occurred in the atmosphere, ocean, biosphere and glaciers. Furthermore, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are the highest concentration in at least 2 million years; methane and nitrous oxide are the most in more than 800,000 years; and our average temperature on earth is the warmest in at least 2,000 years.
Iowans face more frequent and severe storms, greater runoff and soil erosion, warmer nights, and more humidity, pollen and mold spores. In California and the western US, climate change manifests as drought and wildfires; in the Northeast as flooding, and in Miami as blue-sky flooding. If you live in coastal Louisiana, it means more intense hurricanes, power outages and floods. Last year, thirty named storms set a US record, and 13 of those hurricanes made landfall, also a record.
A turning point could be the upcoming United Nations Glasgow Climate Conference, November 1-12, also known as COP26. There, the world will try to agree on greater cuts in nationally-determined greenhouse gas emissions, more funding for the most vulnerable nations (The Green Climate Fund), ending oil exploration and production, constraints on international financial transactions, and limits on international travel. Cuts in emissions of 50% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 are deemed necessary to avoid catastrophic warming and dangerous interference with the climate system.
Register HERE.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Leslie Gannon at (319) 335-6817 or leslie-gannon@uiowa.edu.