"Climate Change: Seeing Into the Future"
**Speaker will be presenting in person in Behrakis Auditorium. Masks are required. Livestream will be available for those who wish to attend remotely.**
Abstract
We live in a changed climate. Every day, we see evidence of the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events around the world. To avoid disasters, we use earth system models to "see" into the future, both to predict short-term weather events and to predict long-term changes in extremes. In the short term, weather early warnings are only valuable if society can take early action to protect vulnerable people and assets. There is preliminary evidence that forecast-based actions can promote nutrition security around the world, and several governments have recently committed to increase the scale of these interventions.
In the long-term, people are adjusting food systems and implementing adaptations for our changed climate. However, there are regional and sectoral gaps in adaptation nationally and around the world. Can we use climate models to simulate "unseen" extreme events before they happen, and use these to spur adaptation planning?
Speaker Bio
Erin bridges science, policy, and practice in her research on climate risk management around the world. She focuses on extreme events, exploring how droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other climate shocks can be anticipated before they happen. Erin works with humanitarian teams on the development of early action protocols to avoid disaster impacts, and she researches the adoption and effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures.
Erin comes to the Feinstein Center from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, where she built a global climate science team and led the first Forecast-based Financing pilots in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Erin retains a technical advisor position at the Climate Centre, to maintain links to humanitarian operations around the world. Erin was formerly an Associate at Columbia University.
Erin received her PhD from VU University Amsterdam, her MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and her BS in Environmental Science and International Development from McGill University
Erin is also a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. Her chapter is Decision-Making Options for Managing Risk, as part of the Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability.
Erin lives in Boston with her partner and children, where they are active foster parents and beekeepers.