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 Thursday, April 16, 2009 Media Advisory:State Climate Experts Assemble at Scripps April 20 California Climate Action Team science meeting welcomes input from the public Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego What: Media are invited to a special public science meeting of the California Climate Action Team (CAT) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Experts on wildfires, drought, sea-level rise, public health and economic effects of climate change will deliver brief presentations and invite feedback. A live Webinar of the event will also take place. (Please see below for access instructions.) When: Monday, April 20, 2009, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Where: Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society and the Environment (Scripps Seaside Forum), 8610 Kennel Way (formerly Discovery Way) in La Jolla, Calif. (For media only: Take I-5, exit La Jolla Village Drive, west one mile. Make left on La Jolla Shores Drive, then right on El Paseo Grande and immediate right into parking lots on right-hand side. Please obtain media parking passes from the Scripps Communications Office staff attendant upon arrival.) Who: Authors of several of the reports included in the latest CAT assessment will deliver brief presentations, followed by question-and-answer sessions. Scripps Communications Office representatives will be on hand to facilitate one-on-one media interviews throughout the event. California Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd will preside over the science meeting, which will include a wide range of presentations: Climate and Socio-economic Scenarios Overview: Dan Cayan, climate scientist at Scripps Oceanography and Alan Sanstad, researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; both are members of the CAT science steering team. Climate Effects on Forests and Wildfire Prevalence: Anthony Westerling, former Scripps Oceanography climate scientist, current assistant professor of environmental engineering and geography, UC Merced Water and Overall Economic Impacts: Michael Hanemann, Chancellor's professor and professor of environmental and resource economics, UC Berkeley Agricultural Sector Impacts: Richard Howitt, professor of agricultural and resource economics and department chair, UC Davis Sea-level Rise Scenarios: Heather Cooley, senior research associate, Pacific Institute Public Health: Rupa Basu, research scientist/epidemiologist, California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Air Quality Implications: Dev Millstein, researcher, UC Berkeley Energy Impacts: Maximillian Auffhammer, assistant professor in the departments of Agricultural and Resource Economics and International Studies, UC Berkeley Background: The state Climate Action Team draft assessment report, released April 1, uses updated, comprehensive scientific research to outline environmental and societal climate impacts. The team's second biennial report to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger includes new assessments of impacts from warming, precipitation changes and sea-level rise as well as the additional societal factors such as land-use changes and demographic shifts and the possible economic consequences of these potential changes. Impacts of climate change to California's coast, agriculture, forest and communities have been known and studied for years; however the studies that support the CAT report suggest that actual greenhouse gas emissions are outstripping 2006 projections. Of particular interest are the several papers focusing on the impacts of a rise in sea levels to coastal communities and increased potential of wildfires to residential areas. Webinar: The California Energy Commission is furnishing an opportunity to those unable to attend the event to hear presentations via the Internet in the following manner: COMPUTER LOGON FOR CALLERS WITH A DIRECT PHONE NUMBER 1. Please go to the California Energy Commission Webex Meeting Center and enter the unique meeting number: 920 696 370 2. When prompted, enter your information and the following meeting password: meeting@10 3. After you login, a prompt will appear on-screen for you to provide your phone number. In the Number box, type your area code and phone number and click OK to receive a call back on your phone for the audio of the meeting. International callers can use the "Country/Region" button to help make their connection. COMPUTER LOGON FOR CALLERS WITH EXTENSION PHONE NUMBER 1. Please go to the California Energy Commission Webex Meeting Center and enter the unique meeting number: 920 696 370 2. When prompted, enter your information and the following meeting password: meeting@10 3. After you login, a prompt will ask for your phone number. CLICK CANCEL. 4. Instead call 1-866-469-3239 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada). When prompted, enter the meeting number above and your unique Attendee ID number, which is listed in the top left area of your screen after you login. International callers can dial in using the "Show all global call-in numbers" link (also in the top left area). TELEPHONE ONLY (NO COMPUTER ACCESS) 1. Call 1-866-469-3239 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada) and when prompted enter the unique meeting number: 920 696 370. International callers can select their number from the California Energy Commission Webex Meeting Center TECHNICAL SUPPORT For help with problems or questions trying to join or attend the meeting, please call WebEx Technical Support at 1-866-229-3239. System Requirements: To see if your computer is Webinar compatible, visit Webex System Support Meeting Preparation: The playback of UCF (Universal Communications Format) rich media files requires appropriate players. To view this type of rich media files in the meeting, please check whether you have the players installed on your computer by going to Webex System Diagnosis # # # Note to broadcast and cable producers: University of California, San Diego provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. Please phone or e-mail the media contact listed above to arrange an interview. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. |
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