CCPO and ODU-RC Seminar - Nov. 21
CCPO and ODU Resilience Collaborative Fall 2016 Seminar
MONDAY, 21 November 2016
3:30 p.m., Conference Center
First Floor, IRB II
4211 Monarch Way
Web streaming link: http://www.ccpo.odu.edu/seminar.html or
http://vs.odu.edu/kvs/interface/?cid=201530_CCPOSeminarSeriesVS_96096
The final CCPO and Resilience Collaborative seminar for the Fall semester will be presented by Dr. Colin Kelley from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University. Dr. Kelley’s research is focused on climate variability and change, particularly drought in semiarid and arid regions and its consequences for dependent societies. His seminar will present results from his work on climate, the recent drought in Syria, and the ongoing conflict in Syria. His research implicates human influences on the climate system in the current Syrian conflict. Dr. Kelley’s research extends climate science to include social and political interactions and consequences.
More information on Dr. Kelley’s research is available at: https://climateandsecurity.org/colin-kelley/
and information on the International Research Institute for Climate and Society is available at: http://iri.columbia.edu/
Dr. Kelley will visit ODU on Monday. Please contact Michelle Covi (mcovi@odu.edu) if you would like to schedule time to talk with him.
Coffee and cookies are available prior to the seminar at 3:00 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to attend the seminar.
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Title: Linking Climate Variability and Change, Vulnerability and Migration
Abstract
Many regions, especially those that are arid and therefore water stressed to begin with, are highly vulnerable for a number of reasons. Poor governance and resource management are key factors. Population is growing, thereby increasing the demand for resources, primarily water. Groundwater, vital for consumption and for irrigation purposes, is declining globally at an unsustainable rate due to overuse. High vulnerability and low resilience can be thought of as two sides of the same coin. Therefore, when nations with high vulnerability experience climate change, or extreme weather or climate events, they can be pushed to or even beyond their respective thresholds of resilience. This has happened recently with disastrous consequences in Syria, leading to a refugee crisis. Here I will compare and contrast some modern cases linking climate and migration, as well as some historical examples.
Biography
Dr. Colin Kelley is an Associate Research Scientist with Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society and a Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Climate and Security. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and was a PACE postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Santa Barbara. Colin is a climate scientist focused on climate variability and change, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, and on the climate-water-food security nexus. He was the first author of the recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought,” which provided evidence that climate change has already begun to exert a measurable influence with respect to water and food insecurity and state stability. Colin uses historical observations, both land-based and remotely sensed, along with atmospheric, hydrologic and climate models to better understand the dynamics associated with natural variability and change, and their relationship to existing vulnerability and resilience in vulnerable regions.
Posted By: Julie Morgan
Date: Thu Nov 17 09:42:59 EST 2016