The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is organising an Institute lecture on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.

The details of the lecture are provided below:

Title: "New Insights in Climate Change: Signals from the Equator to the Poles"

Speaker: Prof. Matthew (Mat) Collins, Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Joint Met Office Chair in Climate Change, University of Exeter, UK; Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Climate

Abstract: The reality of human-induced climate change is unequivocal and exerts an ever-increasing global impact. Access to the latest scientific information on current climate change and projection of future trends is important for planning adaptation measures and for informing international efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Identification of hazards and risks may be used to assess vulnerability, determine limits to adaptation, and enhance resilience to climate change. This talk will highlight how recent research programs are continuing to elucidate current processes and advance projections across major climate systems and identifies remaining knowledge gaps. Key findings include projected future increases in monsoon rainfall, resulting from a changing balance between the rainfall-reducing effect of aerosols and rainfall-increasing GHGs; a strengthening of the storm track in the North Atlantic; an increase in the fraction of precipitation that falls as rain at both poles; an increase in the frequency and severity of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, along with changes in ENSO teleconnections to North America and Europe; and an increase in the frequency of hazardous hot-humid extremes. These changes have the potential to increase risks to both human and natural systems. Nevertheless, these risks may be reduced via urgent, science-led adaptation and resilience measures and by reductions in GHGs.

About the Speaker: Prof. Matthew (Mat) Collins is Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and holds the Joint Met Office Chair in Climate Change in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter. His research interests are in physical aspects of climate change, with a focus on future projections. He has served twice as Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, on the Firth Assessment Report of Working Group 1, and on the Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. He is the Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Climate. He has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal articles. ( Speaker's webpage: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k7YH7rEAAAAJ&hl=en;%20https:/…)