SCIENCE AT THE SHINE DOME canberra 6 - 8 may 2009

New Fellows Seminar

Thursday, 7 May 2009

Dr Michael Raupach FAA
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Canberra

Michael Raupach is a research scientist in CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, with broad interests encompassing global and continental carbon and water cycles, carbon-climate-human interactions, land-air interactions, micrometeorology, the fluid mechanics of turbulent flows, particle transport and soil erosion by wind. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He was an inaugural co-chair of the Global Carbon Project of the Earth System Science Partnership. He received a PhD in micrometeorology at Flinders University in South Australia. After a postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh, he joined CSIRO in 1978.

Human influences on the carbon and water cycles of the Earth system

Complex systems organise themselves by evolution, a process of diversification and winnowing which amplifies successful outcomes, driven by thermodynamic engines built upon the cycling of energy and matter. The global carbon cycle, one of the fundamental natural cycles in the Earth system, is a planet-scale expression of this process. In the post-industrial era, humans are having a significant impact on the global carbon cycle, leading in turn to modification of climate and the global water cycle. Mike’s talk will summarise the magnitudes and impacts of these changes, and outline the challenge that faces humanity as we grapple with the fact that we have now inadvertently stepped into the control room of the Earth system.