The enormous ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are melting even faster than most models predict. Polar researcher and NOS weatherman Peter Kuipers Munneke studies how and how quickly the polar ice sheets are responding to warming, and what this means for future global sea-level. Technical innovations in satellite observation and computing power are key to monitoring and understanding the ice sheets. In this lecture, Peter Kuipers Munneke addresses the latest developments and insights, including multi-meter sea-level rise and the increase in extreme weather worldwide.
Dr. Peter Kuipers Munneke studied physics, has a PhD in glaciology and is a scientist in the field of glaciology and polar meteorology at the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), part of Utrecht University. He specializes in the interaction of ice, snow, and the atmosphere, particularly in the evolution of the firn layer (a coarse-grained layer of snow and ice), and has conducted several field campaigns on Greenland, Antarctica, and on glaciers in Spitsbergen. He is also a meteorologist for NOS, the largest news organization in the Netherlands.
Some reactions from the audience:
“Learned a lot about ice glaciers and how they relate to global warming and sea level rise.”
"It contained a lot of information that made me learn new things. So I recommend this presentation."
"I did not understand global warming in as much detail as was presented in the presentation. This information obviously adds a new spin on the situation we are in."
"I did not realize the complexity of predicting how the earth will change in the next few years. I always thought it would be easier to predict the next 100 years or so than the next thousand years, but that is not the case. Cool to know!"