Emma's two talks

This year my daughter Emma Woolliams, a metrologist who works with climate change scientists, has given a good few online lectures and I had the good fortune to be virtually present at two of them. I and 15 people from Maryland were at the first one, back in June, her American friend Laura (an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Sustainability) hosting that meeting. At the end, one of the students in Laura's class paid Emma a compliment, saying "This has been one of the greatest hours I've ever spent thinking about climate change!" 

Emma began her talk by quoting the 'Apollo 8' astronauts who'd said "We went to the moon and we discovered the Earth." When the photos were published the realisation also dawned for others that no political borders are visible from up there, and that our earth is fragile and precious.

The science of climate change starts with light, she said, describing her youthful enthusiasm for exploring light-waves. The earth is a thermal body, emitting at wavelengths that we can't see. Infrared cameras in satellites look at this part of the spectrum, detecting the heat radiated from earth. Its temperature is stable when the energy taken in = the energy given out. Visible and "near infrared" light from the sun can easily penetrate the atmosphere; it's the infrared radiation not getting out again that causes the warming.

99.9% of the earth's atmosphere is composed of nitrogen, oxygen and argon. If that were 100%, then a stable temperature of -18°C could be maintained, as on the moon. For more warmth on earth we need the "greenhouse effect". H₂O, CO₂ and methane molecules vibrate in the atmosphere when the thermal radiation excites them, thus balancing earth's temperature. Water is the most prominent of these greenhouse gases. Warmer air holds more water, which makes more energy, causing more / bigger storms. The planet seems to breathe, its temperature rising and falling.

The super-computers used by meteorologists analyse atmospheric models, and from these models, predictions can be made. The Global Observation System — thousands of computers working together — processes the data concerning the Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) measured from satellites, from balloons, from weather stations, by robots in the oceans, and so on. She mentioned masts erected in the Namibian desert that measure the reflectance of the ground and the transmittance of the atmosphere. Emma and her colleagues can use such data (and from sensors elsewhere on the earth's surface) to check the performance of the Earth Observation Satellites. She also showed us pictures of a device monitoring the leafy canopy in Oxfordshire woodlands.

Satellite cameras themselves are sophisticated enough to detect the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of our planet's forests and allow scientists to draw conclusions about the ocean water from measuring its colour, affected by the amount of phytoplankton, sediments and so on. Half of the CO₂ in the ocean is absorbed by   phytoplankton floating in it. (The rest is absorbed by the water itself and acidity monitors on buoys can measure that.) The satellites observe changing sea levels, too, and can even provide supportive information in disaster relief situations.

We're seeing retreating glaciers, the destruction of coral reefs. The reduction in sea ice is closely watched; a 2° rise in temperature would submerge some of the world's populated islands.

From 8000 BCE to around 1900 the earth had a fairly stable climate. Things have changed since then. The evidence of man-made global warming is overwhelming. 

She said it was time for feminist thinking. Men prefer to tackle one thing at a time. Women are more capable of considering lots of input together. Humanity is making progress and partnerships are crucial. Since the United Nations created its Sustainable Development Goals, every country on earth is making progress towards them. Emma quoted her heroines, Mary Robinson and Christiana Figueres, both of whom have injected "stubborn optimism" into the climate change conversation, and she spoke of Project Drawdown, which suggests 100 solutions for lowering the carbon dioxide we emit. Because of Covid-19, people are beginning to think locally and globally rather than nationally. We have been obliged to listen to scientists this year; it's a good habit to acquire.

Emma left her audience with the words Courage - Hope - Trust - Solidarity.

For the Environment Action meeting I hosted in Ottawa on October 19th, I had asked if Emma would repeat this presentation. To my delight she was very willing to do so, but she added and subtracted some slides, to suit the audience I'd mustered. We had 29 participants at this first guest-speaker meeting on our program, mostly CFUW people, though we had a couple of extra people along as well.

Again, Emma stated that global atmospheric models predict an increase in temperature. She said that islands were bound to disappear and it would be better if their inhabitants would be able to leave with dignity than as helpless refugees, so the world should start thinking about how to manage this. She also mentioned people who currently live on mainland coasts and near rivers. Many will be displaced. Canada is likely to become one of the havens for climate refugees, and with warming temperatures, this country could become as the food basket of the world. 

She described how governments are competing in their pledges to achieve 'net zero' carbon by the mid-century. Can it be done? There was a fall in CO₂ emissions during Covid shutdowns, worth noting. Again, she mentioned Project Drawdown and the 100 solutions that could save us. We need to get organised to tackle our problems; the effectiveness of our action depends upon whom we can influence.

Scientific observations play a crucial role in finding ways forward, being powerful motivators for change. Measurements ensure that everyone can see the impact of global warming. Metrology fixes the broken links in the chain of information, she said. Again, she listed the different kinds of metrology taking place around the world — satellites, radar, planes, weather stations, etc., all contributing. Emma's own job is to look at composite measurements, correcting for differences between measurements past and present, and to calibrate new satellites before they are launched. She also chairs a European Metrology Network whose purpose is collaboration between scientists and between these scientists and the "stakeholders" with whom they communicate.

Aerial views north of Ottawa

We saw these views from C-FPTN during a half hour flight over the Gatineau Park on Thanksgiving Monday. So much to be thankful for! If you look carefully at the last two photos here you can see a mysterious Bird in the landscape. It's part of the water maze at Éco-Odyssée, near Wakefield.

Alarms and Excursions

Never mind the misery of the pre-election excitement in the USA or the resurgence of COVID-19, this is a verbal snapshot of our personal lives at the moment. 

Here, in Ottawa, at least one drug addict spent the night on our doorstep, last weekend. Her voice woke Chris up, but I, still half-asleep, assumed he was dreaming. He wasn't dreaming. She (they?) left a crumpled tarpaulin, two pairs of women's black underpants and a syringe wrapper outside our front door and strewn over our front garden; we found these things when we opened the door to go out in the morning. Police and neighbours have been told about it and our porch is now lit throughout the night. This was a disturbing incident in more senses than one, reminding me of the wild animals that take shelter round about our house. Only this time it was humans.

On Monday, still thinking about vulnerabilities, I went to a lecture about Long Term Care Homes and how they are going to be "transformed" into something less institutional than at present. Chris and I like the possibility that there might be more interactions between elderly residents and young people, in the care homes of the future. Meanwhile we have COVID-19 to contend with and all our local care homes are in lockdown again, due to the Second Wave. My friend Sue, for example, is once again forbidden to visit her 98 year old mother.

News from London this week; our daughter Emma thought it possible she was catching the virus again, came down with the symptoms of a cold brought home from school by one of our grandsons, but her COVID test result turned out negative. All four of her family have been stuck at home again. 

Emma is preparing a talk about satellite metrology for me and my new CFUW-Ottawa Environment Action group. She'll give the talk later this month. I have been recruiting people for this group since July, as well as soliciting help from other guest speakers near and far, and now have over thirty people on my contact list and a 6-part speaker series ready for our Programme. I'm proud of the plans, but nervous of what might thwart them. I created a website for the group last weekend, as a substitute for sending constant messages that get lost, haven't had the Club's permission to make it public yet. Many emails back and forth about that, and about the fact that one of my group members wants to invite another thirty external people to attend these meetings. 

The Environment is very much on people's minds these days, a political hot topic. Even Prince William, the Queen's grandson, is getting involved, so I read today. I don't think he'll attend my Environment Action meetings, though.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I attended an online public lecture Zoomed from McGill University about Facilitating the Transition to Sustainable Water Resources Management via Participatory Systems Modeling. The title seemed off-putting, but the content was so interesting that Chris stopped what he was doing to come and listen with me to the Prof's description of feedback loops in his models of water consumption in Cyprus, Guatemala, etc. and the co-option of different water management stakeholders.

 

I've also been concentrating on the November issue of the newsletter I edit, now that the October issue is out.

At the end of last week Chris drafted a formal "I am retiring" announcement and handed it in on September 24th. A colleague commented, did Chris actually mean he was retiring or was he resigning from his job? That was a thought-provoking question, as was the question he got from another department at work this Tuesday: did he really want to leave, or would he be interested in a change of scene? Even though the insurance benefits company had been notified of his date of departure, it wouldn't be too late to reverse the process. So after a flurry of communications, among which someone advised him to practise "mindfulness" for the sake of inner peace and equilibrium, Chris has now decided to stay with his company indefinitely, for the time being, instead of resigning / retiring. He will be 71 next month.

This morning my German conversation group talked about the German artist Gabriele Münter and her circle of fellow expressionist artists in Murnau, Bavaria. The other one we focused on was Marianne von Werefkin who grew up in Lithuania and died as a Swiss citizen in Ascona. I had seen paintings by both of these famous women and by the men they lived with (Kandinsky and Jawlenski) at the Lenbachhaus in Munich last January. Much to talk about, so we'll continue with that topic next week.

We are in the midst of "Fall" with coloured leaves falling everywhere, especially in the strong winds and showers of rain. Chris has been singing Der Stürmische Morgen from Schubert's Winterreise to my accompaniment (our online music teacher, Gavan, led us through a thorough practice of this one on Tuesday) and I have been scooping up the maple leaves in our garden into leaf bags. Our walks are lovely, at any time of day. We walked home from town under a limpid sky this evening (it had cleared up) after supper on the Khao Thai restaurant, I wrapped in a fleece supplied at the patio table.