Planet under pressure: global changes, regional challenges (24 September 2009)

The Planet Under Pressure symposium highlighted recent advances in global environmental-change research. It focused on planetary boundaries, changes to the Arctic, ocean acidification, nitrogen deposition and sustainability. The symposium was held on the day the paper on Planetary Boundaries was published in Nature.

Presentations from the IGBP/Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Symposium

Opening

Chair: Henning Rodhe, Stockholm University

Gunnar Öquist, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Anders Wijkman, Tällberg Foundation
Elisabeth Lipiatou, Head of Unit, Climate Change and Environmental Risks, DG Research, European Commission 

Sybil Seitzinger, Executive Director, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

The Arctic Chair: Jonas Björck, Swedish Research Council, Vetenskapsrådet
			PPT
Long-term trends in the cryosphere - Olga Solomina, Russian Academy of Sciences
Arctic sea ice in a changing climate - Göran Björk, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Arctic Ocean Ecosystems - Marit Reigstad, Univeristy of Tromsö, Norway (PDF 30.2 MB). 1st section (PDF 20.4 MB), 2nd section
Biogeochemical cycling and dynamic global vegetation models in the Arctic – Almut Arneth, University of Lund, Sweden
Arctic climate feedbacks: global implications - Martin Sommerkorn, WWF International Arctic Programme
Land-atmosphere-ocean interactions Chair: Sofie Björling, Swedish Research Council, Formas
			PPT
Human atmospheric impacts on the ocean nitrogen budget - Robert Duce, Texas A&M University, USA
Carbon cycling in the coastal zone - Arthur Chen, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Vulnerable Siberian-Arctic carbon pools: process studies of carbon releases from tundra and permafrost in the land-ocean boundary region - Örjan Gustafsson, Stockholm University, Sweden
Ocean Acidification - Sam Dupont, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Planetary Boundaries Chair: Lena Gipperth, University of Gothenburg
			PPT
Planetary Boundaries - Johan Rockström, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden
Are we reaching limits to global biospheric productivity? - Steven Running, University of Montana, USA
Climate boundaries: are we asking the right questions? - Myles Allen, University of Oxford, UK
What is the core of the sustainability challenge? - Wolfgang Lucht, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany

Panel debate: Communicating risk and uncertainty

Uncertainty is inherent in all science. But the media and policymakers struggle with uncertainty. Policymakers want definitive answers: What is dangerous climate change? What targets do we need to set? The media simply polarise the discussion at the most basic level: you either believe humans are causing the climate to change or you don’t. Meanwhile, the insurance industry succeeds or fails depending on how well it manages risk and uncertainty. This panel debate brought together politicians, scientists, the media and the insurance industry to discuss how to deal with the risk and uncertainty inherent in global change research.

Panel debate members:

Mediator: Henrik Ekman, SVT
Anders Wijkman, Tällberg Foundation
Elisabeth Lipiatou, Head of Unit, Climate Change and Environmental Risks, DG Research, European Commission
Matthew Foote, Research Director, Willis Research Network
Steven Running, University of Montana, USA
Karin Bojs, Head of Science Desk, Dagens Nyheter
Helena Ödmark, Swedish Senior Arctic Official
Myles Allen, University of Oxford, UK