El Niño and La Niña have dominated reporting of catastrophic droughts and floods around the globe in recent years. But what are El Niño and La Niña? How do they impact society and how might they affect us in the future?
Leading experts will discuss what is what is fundamentally known about El Nino and La Nina and their influence on global weather and climate. They will critically assess how these phenomena are projected to change and debate how such events could feed through into agricultural, economic and other societal impacts in the future.
Programme
14.00 – Welcome from Liz Bentley (Royal Meteorological Society)
14.05 – Introduction to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) by chair Professor Sir Brian Hoskins (Grantham Institute Chair)
14.15 – A history of El Niño behaviour and its implications – Dr Christopher Brierley, (UCL)
14.45 – Predicting the 2015-16 El Niño and its impacts – Dr Nick Klingaman (University of Reading)
15.15 – Likelihood of increasing extreme El Niño events – Prof Mat Collins (University of Exeter)
15.45 Refreshments break
16.15 Panel discussion – Impacts of El Niño
- Prof Mat Collins (University of Exeter) – flooding and drought
- Dr Apostolos Voulgarakis (Imperial College London) – wildfire and air pollution
- Dr Andrew Ainslie (University of Reading) – agriculture
- Dr George Adamson (King’s College London) – Social and economic impacts
Questions and comments from the floor
17.00 End