On March 13, 2013, the Earth Institute held its fourth seminar in the Sustainable Development Seminar Series at Columbia University, titled “Ch Ch Ch Changes – recent trends in temperature extremes and hydroclimate.” The event featured experts like Peter Schlosser, Gavin Schmidt, Richard Seager, and Jason Smerdon, focusing on climate change and its impacts on weather events.
Schmidt discussed recent temperature anomalies, noting a consistent global warming trend since the 1950s, driven by rising greenhouse gas levels. Smerdon emphasized that while extreme weather events were possible pre-climate change, they are now more frequent and intense. He used the analogy of steroids in baseball to illustrate that climate change amplifies the severity of storms.
Seager highlighted the increasing frequency of droughts, linking them to climate change-driven precipitation shifts, which cause wet areas to become wetter and dry areas drier. The panel urged the necessity of quantifying carbon thresholds and fostering global consensus among scientists and governments. The next seminar will feature discussions on the Millennium Villages Project on April 4.
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