Thank you for your interest in past NCAR Explorer Series lectures from 2018! We hope you enjoy the abstracts, bios, short videos, and the archived lectures from these talks and look forward to seeing you at a future event!
2018 Archived Lectures
Ice sheets and sea level rise
Mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is accelerating, and ice sheets are expected to be the dominant contributor to global sea level rise in the next several decades. William Lipscomb will discuss ice sheet modeling and the likelihood of abrupt sea level rise.
2013 Front Range Flood:5 Years Later
In September 2013, the Front Range experienced record breaking rainfall, creating devastating floods and damage across the area.
"The Human Element"
We humans are an elemental force of nature. As our activities alter the other elements —earth, air, water, and fire —those elements are affecting the lives of everyday people. A special Q&A panel with scientist and James Balog followed the film screening.
Hurricane forecasts: Communicating risk to communities
The 2017 hurricane season caused devastating damage, loss of life, and disruption in the U.S. and Caribbean. Rebecca Morss will discuss the successes of modern hurricane prediction and her research to understand evacuation decision making and improve risk communication.
What are the limits of modeling our planet?
The invention of computers enabled scientists to begin modeling our atmosphere and oceans, improving weather forecasts and our understanding of Earth’s climate. Richard Loft discusses how smartphones, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the cloud are changing science.
Antarctica: Catching snow in the world's southernmost desert
Measuring snowfall anywhere is a challenge — but perhaps nowhere more so than Antarctica. Scott Landolt is testing new technologies that might finally make accurate snowfall measurements in Antarctica possible.