The Global Greenhouse Gas Watch …making better use of climate science in support of the Paris Agreement
Dr. Lars Peter Riishojgaard
Director, Global Greenhouse Gas Watch, WMO Secretariat
Wednesday November 29, 2023, 12 PM ET
Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual):
This seminar will be held at noon at room 4102 of ESSIC, 5825 University Research Ct. College Park, MD 20740. In-person attendance is welcome with refreshment provided. Zoom is also provided for virtual participants.
PLEASE RSVP HERE
Abstract:
Human activities driving up greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) is the primary cause of current climate change. Despite the clear temperature goals set in the Paris Agreement and concerted efforts to improve greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reporting, the global community is currently not on track to meet these goals. Focusing solely on anthropogenic emissions will not provide a sufficiently robust basis for the implementation of effective mitigation action due to the large uncertainties of natural GHG fluxes. An additional problem is that mitigation via so-called carbon offsetting approaches tends to be poorly regulated and inadequately monitored, which can lead to overestimation of the impact. Top- down greenhouse gas flux estimation based on atmospheric data and atmospheric modeling offers additional valuable insight, but is currently undertaken routinely and systematically in international coordination. To address this, the 19th World Meteorological Congress therefore in May 2023 launched the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (GGGW) in 2023, which will deliver near-real-time global GHG flux estimates to Parties to the UNFCCC and to other interested users. The seminar discusses the scope and purpose of the GGGW and its potential for fostering collaboration also with academia and the private sector.
Biosketch:
Dr. Lars Peter Riishojgaard works in the World Meteorological Organization as Director of the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch, which will provide near-real time estimates of greenhouse gas fluxes to support climate change mitigation action. He was previously the Director of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System. In that capacity, Dr Riishojgaard led the development of the Unified WMO Data Policy and the Global Basic Observing System (GBON) approved by the World Meteorological Congress in 2021. Prior to joining WMO, Dr. Riishojgaard spent most of his career in the US working on NASA programs, and he was Director of the US interagency Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation from 2007 to 2014.. His main areas of interests are numerical weather prediction, observational data impact, greenhouse gas monitoring, and policy issues related to weather and climate data. Dr. Riishojgaard’s background is mathematics and physics, and he holds a Ph.D in geophysics from the University of Copenhagen.
Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual):
This is a hybrid (in-person & virtual) seminar with refreshments served at Rm 4102, 5825 University Ct, MD
Event site: https://go.umd.edu/riishojgaard
Zoom Webinar: https://go.umd.edu/riishojgaardwebinar
Zoom Meeting ID: 949 6053 2977
Zoom password: essic
US Toll: +13017158592
Global call-in numbers: https://umd.zoom.us/u/aMElEpvNu
For IT assistance:
Cazzy Medley: cazzy@umd.edu
Resources:
Seminar schedule & archive: https://go.umd.edu/essicseminar
Seminar Google calendar: https://go.umd.edu/essicseminarcalendar
Seminar recordings on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ESSICUMD
