Friday 18 October at 6.00pm, at the Presbyterian Community Centre, 91 Tenby Street, Wanaka.
Professor Tim Naish, Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington.
New Zealand Antarctic Society National Speaker for 2019
Cost – $5 per person.
I will present two narratives on the future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean looking forward 50 and 300 years. In the first, greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked, the climate continues to warm, and the policy response is ineffective; this has large ramifications in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, with worldwide impacts. In the second, ambitious action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to establish policies that reduce anthropogenic pressure on the environment, slowing the rate of change in Antarctica. Choices we make in the next few years determine Antarctica’s long term future.
Biographical note: Tim Naish is a Professor in Earth Sciences and was Director, Antarctic Research Centre, at Victoria University of Wellington until 2017, when he took up a RSNZ James Cook Fellowship. His research focuses on past, present and future climate change with specific emphasis on Antarctic ice sheets and global sea-level. He has participated in 14 expeditions to Antarctica and helped found ANDRILL, an international Antarctic Geological Drilling Program. He was Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report. He developed and co-leads the MBIE-funded NZ SeaRise Programme, which is improving location-specific sea-level projections for New Zealand, by taking into account latest polar ice sheet contributions and vertical land movements. He has received the New Zealand Antarctic Medal, the Martha Muse Prize for Antarctic Science and Policy, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
