CMOS 51st Congress - Future Earth Interviews

Dr. Kimberly Strong is an experimental atmospheric physicist involved in measuring and monitoring a variety of compounds in the atmosphere that are involved in processes such as ozone depletion, climate change, and pollution. She discusses these, and also answers questions specific to the Arctic atmosphere, on what the concerns are and why it is changing so quickly.

Dr. Paul Kushner, principal investigator of the Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE), talks about how snow and sea ice cover are changing in the Canadian north, what the 1.5 degree Celsius climate target means and how we are on a trajectory for much more warming than that, why the Arctic is warming faster than any other place on the planet, and how the ability to communicate scientific findings in a meaningful way is crucial for moving forward.

Interview with BC Green Party leader Dr. Andrew Weaver, in the wake of the May 9th election that has left the Green Party in a powerful position. As Dr. Weaver is knee-deep in negotiations with NDP and Liberal leaders who look to earn Green king-maker support, he took a break to offer his thoughts on the role of science in politics, his stance on climate change and intergenerational equity, his strong feelings about the importance of climate scientists communicating their work, his suggestions for citizen action for positive environmental change, and more.

Dr. Gordon McBean, former IPCC contributor and current President of the International Council for Science, is a climatologist with a long and strong career in national and international climate research and policy. Here, he shares his insights on some of the threats that we will face as the climate changes and how we can better become a more resilient society.

Physical Oceanographer Dr. Susan Allen explains ocean modelling and its applications - from predicting tomorrow's storm surges to the next decade's warming and sea level rise. She answers questions about some of the problems the oceans are facing, including ocean acidification and changing ocean current regimes, as the earth continues to warm, and how ocean scientists across the globe are working together.

Dr. Francis Zwiers, Director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium and IPCC coordinating lead author of the Fourth Assessment Report, discusses “changing weather extremes” – a topic that is also the title of a free public lecture that he will be giving at the upcoming CMOS congress, on June 6th. His very well-informed thoughts on how the climate is changing, what weather extremes we might expect in Canada as a result, some of what brought us to this point, and what the future looks to hold, are crucial messages that we all need to listen to, and take action on.

Dr. Jim Young, an atmospheric scientist with 41 years of experience, discusses climate change resiliency - the theme of the session that he will be convening at the upcoming national congress in Toronto - and what it means for Canadians as we look to the future in a changing climate. He also answers questions on the annual "Teacher's Event" that CMOS is holding at the congress, and explains what educators can expect to get out of this event to share with their students: our scientists of the future.