We will begin with our own solar system, exploring the potential for life on Mars and beneath the icy surfaces of Europa and other icy bodies. We'll then extend our gaze to distant exoplanets, introducing the concept of the habitable zone and the methods used to discover planets around other stars. Finally, we'll cover the latest findings about exoplanet populations—including the intriguing Fulton Gap—and their implications for our understanding of planetary system formation and evolution.
Natural disasters related to the weather have increased by 400% in the last 40 years. In addition to changes in the climate and extreme weather, there have also been changes in population exposure, and the vulnerability of countries to natural hazards. We will discuss the impacts of climate change on heat waves, droughts and wildfires, while also considering storms, floods and tropical storms. These changes are impacting the low-income countries the most. And as a result we are seeing a rise in climate refugees.
A Roadmap for solving the Climate Crisis
When talking about solving the climate crisis, people normally mention "net zero". The implications are that we need to reach net zero (not zero) emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. But how do we get there? What needs to be done? This is perhaps the most complex climate issue facing us over the coming decades. Given that humanity is adding around 40-50 G tons of CO2 equivalent to the atmosphere every year, we need to figure out how to reduce this number to zero! In other words, zero additions to the atmospheric concentrations, and eventually moving to "negative" emissions, implying that annually we remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere that we emit into the atmosphere. In this talk I will provide a roadmap that we need to follow to reach net-zero in the coming decades. It won't be easy, but it is possible.
Extreme Weather Events Associated with Merging and Shifting of the Jet-Streams - Prof. Nili Harnik
The atmospheric circulation is governed by multiple scales. A main distinction is between global scales which are affected by the land-sea contrasts and topography, synoptic scales which drive much of our weather, and smaller - mesoscales to cloud scales, on which precipitation actually occurs. This talk will give an overview of how these scales of motion interact to give the atmospheric circulation, and specifically the variability of the jet streams. We will also go into some specific examples of how the distribution and variability of extreme weather in mid latitudes is affected.
The Journey of Water Molecules in the Atmosphere and How it is Changing Under Global Warming
An increase in the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is one of the robust implications of global warming. A corresponding increase in the global amount of rain is expected, though it can't be as strong as the increase in water vapor due to energetic constraints. Local changes in the hydrological cycle are much less constrained and thus much harder to predict. We will discuss the global hydrological cycle, understand the contributions of different global circulation components, and the current understanding of changes in these components due to global warming.
Enhanced Spontaneous Emergence of Giant Jellyfish Swarms in Warming Coastal Waters Under Climate Change - Dr. Zafrir Kuplik and Prof. Eyal Heifetz
The recurrence and intensity of giant jellyfish swarms, in coastal waters throughout the world, is keep increasing due to the persistent rise of sea temperatures. Giant swarms, stretching up to lengths of a few hundred kilometers, composing up to a few million individuals, have a strong negative impact on biodiversity, as well as fishing, industry and tourism. It is yet unclear how these enormous swarms form on such a regular basis and move while maintaining their coherent structure.
While prior studies suggested that jellyfish are mostly passive, advected by sea currents, it is now understood that they are active swimmers, which interact with each other and respond to environmental stimuli. In this meeting, we will first learn about the biology of jellyfish and then show how we can mathematically model the dynamics of swarms, using fluid dynamics and active matter theory. The latter exploits concepts from theoretical physics such as statistical mechanics and phase transitions. In Particular, we will demonstrate scenarios in which swarms are emerging spontaneously and how the jellyfish collective behavior preserves the swarm's structure.
Baroclinic Instability: The Quest of the Atmosphere for Thermal Equilibrium and the Reason for the Formation of Weather Systems in the Mid-Latitudes
- Prof. Eyal Heifetz
Baroclinic instability is the major mechanism for generating weather systems in the mid-latitudes. In the lecture we will discuss a conceptual mechanistic minimal model for instability, based on interaction at a distance between counter-propagating Rossby waves. We will show further that the concept of counter-propagating vorticity (other than Rossby) waves interaction is quite general and applicable to different types of shear instabilities. If time permits, we will present a generalized low-order nonlinear dynamical system representing the essence of the instability mechanism.
Prediction of Climate Extremes Using Artificial Intelligence
- Assaf Shmuel
Climate extremes such as wildfires and floods pose serious risks to both human populations and wildlife. For instance, the recent wildfire in Los Angeles caused damage estimated at over $200 billion and dozens of fatalities. Accurately predicting such events is not only critical for advancing scientific understanding but also serves as a vital tool for issuing early warnings and saving lives. A striking example comes from Bangladesh: a cyclone in 1970, with no early warning system in place, led to the deaths of over 300,000 people. In contrast, a cyclone of similar magnitude in 2020 resulted in only 26 fatalities – thanks to timely warnings and improved preparedness.
However, predicting extreme climate events remains a major challenge due to the complex, non-linear interactions among numerous risk factors, including meteorological conditions, vegetation, topography, and more. In this lecture, we will explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help address this challenge. We will examine a range of data-driven models – from Linear Regression to Random Forests and Neural Networks – and discuss their applications in predicting climate extremes.
Special attention will be given to wildfires. We will explore how AI can assist in their detection, forecasting, and even prevention. Additionally, we will highlight the role of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in identifying the most influential risk factors, thereby using predictive models not only for alerts but also for gaining deeper insights into the underlying causes of these devastating events.
Coral-reef ecosystems under climate change
Dr.Tom Shlesinger
Paper relevant to the talk: Tom Shlesinger - Coral‐bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales.pdf
