May 17, 2013
Seventh International Symposium on Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases (NCGG7) call for papers
A major international symposium on "Innovations for a Sustainable Future", 5-7...
Global Land Project major conference call for abstracts
The call for abstracts for the Land Transformations conference, Berlin 19-21...
Apr 30, 2013
Latest Global Change issue available online
The cover story in this issue explores the phenomenon of land grabs by taking a...
Methane:
Not a damp squib, not yet a time bomb
A potent greenhouse gas, an energy source, a culinary delicacy for some microbes...
Zooming in over the northern latitudes
The Arctic is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the world, with significant consequences for northern Eurasia. Cat Downy discusses how the European Space Agency is working with researchers to combine remotely sensed, field and laboratory data in this hard-to-access region.
Earth-system science at a crossroads
The Planet Under Pressure conference underscored a rapidly changing landscape of Earth-system science. Mike Raupach says that the path ahead should combine the need for wider engagement with a continuing commitment to reason.
Ticking time bombs in the human-earth system:
This Second Australian Earth System Outlook Conference, explored a small selection of globally...
Stockholm Seminar: 2000-year climate records
Thorsten Kiefer from IGBP's core project Past Global Changes (PAGES) discusses the 2000-year climate...
Berlin's Anthropocene Project kicks off with Will Steffen's keynote
The Anthropocene Project is an initiative of Berlin's House of World Cultures.
2012: A year in review
In January 2012, James Syvitski became Chair of IGBP. He follows Brazilian academic Carlos Nobre who served for two terms as IGBP Chair. Professor Syvitski is director of the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System at the University of Colarado, Boulder.
Ocean acidification rates unprecedented
In March, researchers reported in the journal Science that the oceans may be acidifying faster today than in the last 300 million years. The results were based on a workshop held by IGBP's Past Global Changes programme. More.
Changing chemistry of the Earth's oceans (New York Times, 9 March 2012)
Planet Under Pressure
The Planet Under Pressure conference, co-sponsored by IGBP, attracted 3000 world-leading experts and marked a turning point in Earth-system research.
The greatest challenge of our species - Thomas Lovejoy (New York Times)
Earth-system science at the crossroads - Mike Raupach (Global Change Magazine)
State of the Planet Declaration - Lidia Brito, Mark Stafford Smith (pdf. Planet Under Pressure)
Elinor Ostrom died, 78
The political scientist and Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom died in June 2012 at the age of 78. Ostrom's research on managing common resources challenged established wisdom about the so-called “tragedy of the commons" and led to her Nobel award in 2009. She was the first woman to receive the economics honour. Ostrom acted as chief scientific advisor to the Planet Under Pressure conference and is dearly missed. More.
The UN's largest gathering to date, the Rio+20 summit, attracted an estimated 50,000 people and 188 heads of state and minsters. The event began with a short speech by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon who then introduced the IGBP co-produced short film, Welcome to the Anthropocene, placing IGBP science front and central at the summit.
UNsustainable - Carlos Nobre (Science)
Analyzing Sustainable Development Goals - Lidia Brito (Science)
Green from the Grassroots - Elinor Ostrom (Project Syndicate)
A Rio retrospective - Owen Gaffney (Global Change)
Welcome to the Anthropocene
IGBP and partners (CSIRO, Globaia, Stockholm Resilience Centre) launched the world's first educational website on the Anthropocene. The site, which features a short film of the Anthropocene, has received considerable media attention, appearing in the New York Times, BBC, Gizmodo, Fast Company, the Atlantic and Time. www.anthropocene.info
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Atmospheric chemistry in the Anthropocene
In September 2012, IGBP's International Global Atmospheric Chemistry project and WMO published a major synthesis on the "Impacts of megacities on air pollution and climate" during IGAC's international open science conference in Beijing. More information: Megacities report and Open science conference (Atmospheric Chemistry in the Anthropocene).
Ocean acidification conference attracts record numbers
Monterey, California hosted the 3rd Ocean in a High-CO2 World symposium, co-sponsored by IGBP. The symposium attracted 540 delegates from 37 countries including over 30 journalists. The high-level policy day was led by NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco and co-sponsored by Google. IGBP, Google and IUCN produced a short Google Tour of ocean acidification for Google Earth. Conference website.
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2012 marked significant progress towards Future Earth, the new ten-year research initiative set to bring together the major international global environmental change programmes, including IGBP. The Planet Under Pressure conference generated significant momentum within the research community for the initiative. Future Earth was formally launched at the UN's Rio+20 Summit. 2013 promises to be be an exciting year as Future Earth takes shape. Catch interviews with the Future Earth transition team, including IGBP director, Sybil Seitzinger.
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Sustainable cities must look beyond city limits
City authorities need to start thinking beyond city limits if they want to be serious about creating genuinely sustainable cities. This is a key conclusions from the IGBP-sponsored workshop on planetary stewardship held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (June 2011). A paper arising from the workshop made the front cover of the December 2012 issue of Ambio.
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SOLAS Scientific Steering Committee Meeting 2013
Jun 17 - Jun 20, 2013
IMBER Scientific Steering Committee Meeting 2013
Global Change Magazine No. 80
The cover story in this issue explores the phenomenon of land grabs by taking a closer look at the Southeast Asian nation of Laos. Also featured are articles on resilience in the face of sea-level...
Global Change Magazine No. 79
This issue highlights various aspects of Arctic climate change, including sea ice and methane. We also look at a new tool for analysing complex global challenges, the path ahead for the Earth-system...
How green is my future?
UN panel foresees big growth in renewable energy, but policies will dictate just how big.
UK:
'The Anthropocene: a new epoch of geological time?'
Royal Society, Philosphical Transactions A