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UID:20260924T100102EDT-1336PuczSA@132.216.98.100
DTSTAMP:20260924T140102Z
DESCRIPTION:Come join us for a free seminar by Dr. Francis Zwiers on climat
 e science and 'alternative facts\,' sponsored by the Trottier Chair in Sus
 tainability in Engineering and Design. \n\n\n	\n		\n			\n				Abstract\n\n				Stories abo
 ut extreme weather and climate events around the world often make media fr
 ont-page headlines\, alongside the recent upswing in “alternative fact”\, 
 or fake\, news. These stories about extremes draw our attention because of
  their immediacy and the devastating impacts\, which often include deaths 
 and up to billions of dollars in damage. Two Canadian examples include the
  Fort McMurray wildfire (2016\, >$3.6B in insured losses) and the Calgary 
 floods (2013\, $6.7B USD in total losses)\, including extensive damage to 
 public and private infrastructure. In the aftermath of such devastation\, 
 media and others\, including those responsible for infrastructure\, ask wh
 ether such extreme events are now more frequent or intense than in the pas
 t\, whether they are caused by human influence on the climate and if they 
 represent a harbinger of the future.\n\n				In most cases\, climate science do
 es find that human influence played a role\, consistent with the overwhelm
 ing body of evidence indicating a human contribution to the observed chang
 es in average climatic conditions over the past century.\n					Nevertheless\, a
 t a localized level\, the effects of climate change can be hard to detect\
 , leading to possible discrepancies between our own personal experience of
  climate change and the findings of climate science\, and to difficulty in
  projecting how climatic loads on infrastructure may change in the future.
  In this new era of “alternative facts”\, it would be a fallacy to rely so
 lely on personal experience\, reject the findings of the climate science c
 ommunity and consequently fail to prepare for the climatic changes ahead. 
 The potential risks to infrastructure are central to this concern. While t
 he difficulties in quantifying historical future changes in climatic loads
  on infrastructure at the local scale are real\, information that can be u
 sed to mitigate at least some risks is available.\n\n				Speaker’s biography\n
 \n				Dr. Francis Zwiers is director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
  (PCIC) at the University of Victoria. His former roles include chief of t
 he Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis and director of the 
 Climate Research Division\, both at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
  As a research scientist\, his expertise is in the application of statisti
 cal methods to the analysis of observed and simulated climate variability 
 and change. Dr. Zwiers is an Honorary Research Professor at the University
  of Victoria\, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the American
  Meteorological Society\, a recipient of the Patterson Medal and the Presi
 dent’s Prize\, has served as an IPCC Coordinating Lead Author of the Fourt
 h Assessment Report and as an elected member of the IPCC Bureau for the Fi
 fth Assessment Report. \n			\n		\n	\n\n
DTSTART:20170830T213000Z
DTEND:20170830T233000Z
LOCATION:MD267\, Macdonald Engineering Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 
 0C3\, 817 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
SUMMARY:Changing weather extremes - why it isn’t an “alternative fact”
URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/tised/channels/event/changing-weather-extremes-wh
 y-it-isnt-alternative-fact-269827
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