Simon Wang, an assistant
professor of climatology at Utah State University, and Robert Gillies, the
director of the Utah Climate Center, discussed their six-week tour of Asia during
a seminar held Tuesday in the Agriculture Science Building.
The researchers chose Asia
as their focus due to its high vulnerability to climate change. According to
Wang, vulnerability comes when people become used to a climate and may not be
prepared for bigger storm surges.
During the tour, the
researchers explained how a big rainfall in Pakistan, which resulted in major
floods and a high death toll, was not just a periodic monsoon, but an event
tied to global warming.
“The implication is that
with continual warming of atmosphere, those events could potentially become
more frequent in the future,” Gillies said.
Wang and Gillies also saw
the trip as a way to promote the work of the Utah Climate Center.
The trip began with a
conference in Macau, China on Oct. 23 and concluded with the International
Conference on Climate Change and Water in Nepal, which Gillies helped organize.
Other stops included Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, India and Thailand.
As a result of their visits,
a USU student has been sponsored to study with top climate experts in Taiwan at
the Academy of Science in May and June. A scientist from Nepal is also coming
to USU for a few months in October to learn climate diagnostic techniques that
can help predict climate incidents up to 10 years in advance.
“We’re hoping to make this a
norm,” Wang said. “We believe that the climate science is international, so
students will benefit from mutual visits.”
The trip was funded in part
by USU’s Office of Global Engagement, Agricultural Experiment Station, Ecology
Center and School of Graduate Studies, the Taiwanese Weather Bureau and the
Innovation Lab at Colorado State University.
“We believe we were
successful in opening many doors,” Wang said.
Jared Dangerfield, Amanda
Grover, Lindsey Hall, Heather Shulsen and Rebecca Wheatley contributed to this
article.
No comments:
Post a Comment