50th Anniversary of the Global Co2 Record
~A Celebration and Symposium~
November 28-30, 2007 / Kona, Hawaii

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2007 

Welcome Reception
6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007
8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Welcoming Remarks

Dr. Richard W. Spinrad, Assistant Administrator, NOAA, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
Transcript (Welcoming remarks and comments as M.C. for the day.)

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, Senator, State of Hawaii (Invited)

Dr. Ken Melville, Deputy Director for Research, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Slides - Transcript

Mr. Timothy R. E. Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, NOAA
Transcript

Dr. Len Barrie, Director, WMO Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme
( WMO Message on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Global CO2 Record)
Slides - Transcript

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences
( Climate Change: It's Not Just for Scientists)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A

What We've Learned from the CO2 Measurement Record
A half century of carbon measurements has provided the cornerstone for research into human-driven climate change. As measurements have become more sophisticated and expanded from one station to a global network, the data have enabled us to draw strong conclusions about the carbon cycle.  This session covered what we know now and what other gases can tell us about the origin and fate of CO2

Speakers: Prof. Ralph F. Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(
Lessons from Mauna Loa: On the value of continuous time series)
Slides

Dr. Pieter P. Tans, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
(Today's carbon cycle as revealed by observed CO
2 records)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Martin Heimann, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
(Constraints from long-term observations on the future of the global carbon cycle)

Slides

Session Q&A

Assessing Impacts and Urgency
Continued emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases will exacerbate the warming trend already observed during the past century, along with consequences of sea-level rise, glacial melting, ocean acidification, and ecosystem disturbance. The potential impact of these events, combined with the complication of realized and potential feedbacks, underscores the urgency of improving our understanding of the climate system, while simultaneously working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rising sea levels, increased desertification, and changing availability of food, water and energy could trigger conflicts around the globe. This session explored these issues, as well as the interrelationship among climate change, national and international security, and energy dependence.

Introduction by:

Dr. Alexander E. MacDonald, Director, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
(The Possibility of Large Temperature Increases with CO2 Doubling)
Slides - Transcript

Speakers:

Dr. Richard Somerville, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(How Can Wise Climate Policy Be Informed by Sound Climate Science)
Slides - Transcript

VADM Paul Gaffney USN (Ret.), Military Advisory Board
(National Security and the Threat of Climate Change)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A

Business Challenges, Opportunities, and Risks
Although addressing climate change through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is challenging, the outlook is not necessarily bleak.  Opportunity exists for developing new sources of energy, profitably mitigating emissions, and making better and more efficient use of existing alternatives. These efforts are likely to be market-driven as governments and business organizations establish agreed-upon guidelines for reduction.  Innovation in the future will likely lead to new and effective alternatives.

Introduction by:

Mr. Fredrick D. Palmer, Sr. Vice President for Governmental Relations, Peabody Energy
(Coal, Energy Security and Carbon - The Path Forward)
Slides - Transcript

Speakers:

Bruce Braine, Vice President, Strategic Policy Analysis, American Electric Power
(Climate Change and Technology: Opportunities and Risks)
Slides - Transcript

Helen Howes, Vice-President, Environmental Health & Safety, Exelon Corporation
(Business Risks and Opportunities Related to Climate Change)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A

Climate Change Mitigation under Strong Carbon Constraints
This talk discussed the range of mitigation options that already exist and how societies may choose the composition of their mitigation-adaptation portfolios. The international dimensions of mitigation and the possible new "architecture" for post-2012 climate policy were discussed, as was the necessity of heavy involvement from the environmental science community in assessing already foreseeable large-scale mitigation options and in-the-wings geoengineering options.
Transcripts have been edited for accuracy and clarity. No revisions of substance have been made.

Speaker:

Prof. Robert H. Socolow, Princeton University
(Climate Change Mitigation Under Strong Carbon Constraints)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A

Symposium Dinner - Commemorating 50 years of the CO2 Record & Dr. Charles David Keeling
6:30 p.m.

Speakers:

Prof. Ralph F. Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
( Presentation)
Forrest Mims, author

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2007
8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Terrestrial Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation
As the climate warms, managed and unmanaged ecosystems will adjust to changes in temperature, moisture, and extreme events.  The same systems are already adapting to existing threats, such as invasive species and habitat fragmentation. What changes are already occurring and how might they feed back into the climate system to create further change in the future?
Speakers:
Prof. Christopher B. Field, Stanford University
(Terrestrial Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A
Dr. Paul Kirshen, Tufts University
(Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding: A Case Study of Metro Boston)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Ted Schuur, University of Florida
(Permafrost Carbon and Climate Feedbacks)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. David Lobell, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(Warming and the Global Harvest)
Slides - Transcript

Ocean Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation
One certain outcome of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing acidification of the oceans. This has potentially serious consequences for the marine environment, from one-celled organisms to complex ecosystems such as coral reefs.

Speakers:
Dr. Richard A. Feely, NOAA Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory
(Global Warming and Ocean Acidification: Double Trouble for Ocean Ecosystems)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Scott Doney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(The Future Ocean Under High CO
2)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Victoria Fabry, California State University, San Marcos
(Possible Consequences of Global Warming and Ocean Acidification on Marine Ecosystems)
Slides - Transcript

Session Q&A

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: An Analog for the Future?
Fifty-five million years ago an enormous amount of carbon was rapidly released into the atmosphere and oceans. This led to significant warming as well as ocean acidification lasting tens of thousands of years. Could current human activities trigger another huge and rapid release of carbon?

Speaker:

Prof. James E. Zachos, University of California, Santa Cruz
(Greenhouse Warming and Ocean Acidification in the Past: Lessons for the Future)
Slides - Transcript

Ecosystem Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation, Panel Discussion
Moderator: Dr. Edward L. Miles, University of Washington
(Panel Discussion: Combining Terrestrial and Ocean Impacts and Feedbacks)
Slides - Transcript

A Climate Success Story - Reversing Ozone Depletion
Climate change owing to increased greenhouse gas emissions is not the first serious global environmental issue faced by society. Two decades ago, depletion of stratospheric ozone posed a threat to both human health and Earth’s ecosystems. This difficult issue of the time was addressed collectively by scientists, policy-makers, and industry to achieve an outcome with promising results.

Speaker: Dr. Susan Solomon, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

Luau - Featuring renowned Hawaiian chef Sam Choy.
6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2007
8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 

Mitigation Options: Part 1
There are many options for reform of our energy system, and we will likely have to work simultaneously on many of them. Improved energy efficiency, zero emissions fossil fuel utilization, nuclear energy, and renewables are among the options for reforming our energy system.

Introduction by: Prof. Robert H. Socolow, Co-Director, Carbon Mitigation Initiative, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University
(Action Analysis: Canonical Mitigation)
Slides - Transcript

Speakers: Dr. Julio Friedmann, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(Carbon Capture and Sequestration as a Major Greenhouse Gas Abatement Option)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Chuck Kutscher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(Climate Change and the Role of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency)
Slides - Transcript

Mitigation Options: Part 2 Environmental Impacts of Mitigation Solutions
No mitigation option comes without a consequence.  Some options require increased energy consumption, some cause new or different adverse environmental impacts, several create social and economic concerns, and others have limits as to how long they can be effective.  This session addressed several of these issues and suggested several approaches for optimizing our way forward.

Introduction by: Prof. Robert H. Socolow, Co-Director, Carbon Mitigation Initiative, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University
(Action Analysis: Geoengineering)
Slides - Transcript

Speakers: Dr. David Keith, University of Calgary
(Geoengineering)
Slides - Transcript

Dr. Dave Karl, University of Hawaii
(Improving the Efficiency of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump)
Slides - Transcript

Regional Efforts
Reducing global CO2 emissions will require local and regional efforts. It is also at the regional scale that the impacts of climate change are felt. This may provide the motivation to solve difficult challenges posed by coordination, funding, and management across borders. This session discussed opportunities, successes, and needs in regional carbon management.

Speakers: The Honorable Fran Pavley
Co-Author of California's A.B. 32, Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006

(Climate Change and California)
Slides - Transcript

Joanne Morin, [NE] Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
(Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative)
Slides - Transcript

David Van’t Hof, Western Governors’ Association
(The Western Climate Initiative: Origins, Status, & Goals)
Slides - Transcript

Economic Tools & Financial Incentives
Economic impacts of human-driven climate change include insurance losses and increased damage from fires, drought, and severe storms. How can our economic system profitably reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and provide incentives for investments in emission reductions? Walsh discussed various economic drivers for change.

Speaker: Dr. Michael Walsh, Chicago Climate Exchange
(The U.S. and Global Carbon Markets)
Slides - Transcript

Future Measurements and Research Needs
As we set about reducing carbon emissions, we will need an objective method to measure the effectiveness of the different approaches.  Which of the evolving policies work best?  Building on the experience gained from the Mauna Loa record, the atmosphere itself offers us the possibility to provide this policy feedback.

Speaker: Dr. Wouter Peters, Wageningen Research University, Netherlands
(Presentation)
Slides - Transcript

New Research for a Committed World, Panel Discussion
Moderator: Prof. Ray F. Weiss, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(What are the proper roles of science and scientists in a world that has accepted the challenge of climate change?)
Slides - Transcript