Speaker: 
Kerry A. Emanuel, PhD.
Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science
Lorenz Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract:
Severe thunderstorms, which are often associated with strong winds, hail, and tornadoes, pose substantial threats to people, livestock, and agriculture. While their dynamics are well understood, relatively little is known about how climate change (man‐made or natural) might affect such storms. In this talk, I will focus on one of the main environmental prerequisites for severe storms: Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), which is a measure of the potential energy stored in moist atmospheres that can be released explosively when the potential energy barrier that permits its accumulation breaks. I will discuss the work of my former Ph.D. student that shows, rather unexpectedly, that CAPE usually accumulates over only the 6‐8 hours leading up to the storm and that its build‐up is strongly controlled by soil moisture. I will present observational evidence for this as well as a very simple theoretical model and discuss how climate change should affect CAPE and how the new understanding of CAPE may someday allow for seasonal prediction of severe storm activity.

Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS) invites you to participate in the Earth Week Clothing Swap.

Do some spring cleaning and drop off your gently used clothing then swap out your donations for other students’ items. Every clothing item you donate gets you one  item from the donation pool at the clothing swap. Thrifting is a more sustainable, economical, and humane option to buying new clothes, and we guarantee you’ll find stuff here.

Last year SECS had thousands of items to choose from and hundreds of participants! If you didn’t get a chance to donate clothes, don’t worry- SECS will also be selling them at cheap prices.

Speaker:
Jonathan T. Overpeck
Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability
University of Michigan

Abstract:
Many current assessments of future climate and hydrologic change suggest that current drylands around the globe could become drier with continued anthropogenic climate change. In some “early warning” regions, such as the Southwest U.S., there is a clear observed trend in this direction. This is particularly true for the region’s rivers, where the nature of drought is shifting to a more temperature-dominated climate extreme. At the same time, however, some recent and influential scientific assessments suggest that temperature-driven drying could be compensated by precipitation increases with little net increase to water supply or ecosystem risk. A new approach integrating the examination of temperature, precipitation and drought risk indicate that Colorado River flows, sustainable water supplies, and ecosystems in the Southwest are already being seriously affected by warming, and that continued warming could result in much larger impacts than widely thought, even if mean precipitation increases. The implications of these results have serious implications for terrestrial systems in most parts of the globe, including regions with higher average precipitation (e.g., the Amazon and Great Lakes regions). We are now able to say this with high confidence, strengthening the case for actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Bio:
Professor Jonathan Overpeck is an interdisciplinary climate scientist and the newly appointed Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Given his leadership position at a peer Big Ten school, Professor Overpeck’s visit will be highly instructive and interesting to faculty and the campus community associated with our own Sustainability Institute (iSEE) and all environmental education units, in addition to the compelling general interest surrounding his research on climate change and drought.

As a world-renowned climatologist, Professor Overpeck has published over 210 papers on climate and the environmental sciences, served as a Working Group 1 Coordinating Lead Author for the Nobel Prize winning IPCC 4th Assessment (2007), and also as a Working Group 2 Lead Author for the IPCC 5th Assessment (2014). Other awards include the US Dept. of Commerce Gold and Bronze Medals, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Walter Orr Roberts award of the American Meteorological Society, and the Quivira Coalition’s Radical Center Award for his work with rural ranchers and land managers.

In addition to his highly productive research, Professor Overpeck has been heavily engaged in the heated public debate over climate change, having testified nine times before Congress and more than once at the Arizona Legislature.

Education:
PHD in Geological Sciences, Brown University, Rhode Island
MSc in Geological Sciences, Brown University
BA in Geology (Honors), Hamilton College, New York

Help us turn off the lights to reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of our campus! By participating in iSEE’s Illini Lights Out, you will be demonstrating your commitment to fighting climate change and saving our planet. This symbolic event shows that climate change is an issue that the University of Illinois campus cares about.

Grab your friends and join us as we turn off thousands of light bulbs! Sign up today for one or more of our Illini Lights Out events and get involved in this impactful movement!

We will meet in the lobby of the Foreign Language Building (FLB) at 5:30pm for some brief instructions. Then, we will head out to turn off the lights of our assigned buildings. Return to FLB to drop off your clipboard with the data you collected and for FREE snacks!

Come try plogging with us! It’s good for your health and good for the environment.

What is plogging? It’s a European fitness trend in which people bring bags on walks/runs and pick up trash and recyclables along their trails and sidewalks to re-beautify natural space. Not to mention, it’s good for the environment and nature’s creatures that otherwise try to eat our trash and get sick from it. Why not make a healthier environment while you get healthy?

When? Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, April 27

Where? Oak Street Library Facility (check-in point); plog will be around the residential areas from Oak Street to Fourth Street

What? To celebrate Earth Month, iSEE is hosting a non-competitive plogging fun run/walk in the residential areas of campus that are dirtier than the rest

How? Run OR walk (with a friend, a dog, or new friend) on one of our pre-selected paths, and stop when you find a piece of trash or recyclable item. Put it in either your trash bag or your recyclable bag and move on! If you are unsure if something can be recycled, put it in the recycling bag and we will sort it.

If you run, we will have a longer route set up for you. If you walk, we will give you a shorter route.

Gloves will be available so you do not have to touch trash. Please do not pick up broken glass or anything that can hurt you.

If you want to bring plastic shopping bags that you have no other use for, do so! We will also provide some bags for trash and recycling collection.

This event is part fitness, part environmental action, part community service — and definitely ALL FUN. We will have “proof of participation” if you need to record your service hours with an organization or for class credit.

Dogs are welcome! They need a clean environment to walk as well.

We collected mountains of trash last fall, let’s keep up the momentum!

Sign up to volunteer with us for the event:
https://goo.gl/forms/SSc0hyouqGFsaQRC3

TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY, MARCH 8 AT NOON.
Join local Chefs Ann Swanson, Drew Starkey, Mark Hartstein, Leslie Bettridge, Summer Kortkamp, Chris Alwes, Nicole Muvundamina, Heidi Leuszler, and Whitney Braddock on Sunday, April 28th for a delicious and unique dinner made with foraged ingredients from the Allerton Park forest. Among expected wild ingredients are morel mushrooms, sassafras, Japanese knotweed, wild ginger, garlic mustard, and elderberry.

3:30 pm – Cash Bar/Explore the Mansion/Mingle with great company
4:30 – 7:00 pm – Dinner (View the menu here.)

PRICE: $95/person