date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:32:56 +1000 (EST) from: Matthew England to: Matthew England Dear colleagues, Please consider submitting an abstract to the "tipping points" session at the upcoming Copenhagen science congress on "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions", to be held during 10-12 March, 2009. Confirmed invited keynote speakers include Professor Peter Cox, Professor Kerry Cook and Professor Andrew Weaver. This meeting forms a crucial lead-in to the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. Details follow below. Also note the abstract deadline is 30th September, 2008. With best wishes, Matthew England and Tim Lenton __________________________________________________________________ Call for Abstracts: Tipping Elements in the Earth System SESSION CHAIRS: Professor Matthew England, University of New South Wales Professor Tim Lenton, University of East Anglia SESSION DESCRIPTION: The global climate system is highly complex and non-linear, with abrupt change a common feature of past climate records. While most climate projections focus on the smooth, predictable aspects of climate change, it is highly likely that key thresholds for large scale, non-linear change, or "tipping points", will be encountered over the coming decades. Critical uncertainties include the amount of forcing required to pass particular tipping points and the severity of the resulting impacts. In this session we invite contributions on the nature, proximity and predictability of tipping points in the Earth's climate system. These may include: abrupt change in the ocean's thermohaline circulation and sea-ice cover, irreversible shrinkage of major ice sheets, rapid shifts in atmospheric systems, and abrupt shifts in some terrestrial and marine ecosystems. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: The abstract deadline is nominally Monday 1 September 2008 but please note that we will accept abstracts for the tipping points session up until 30 September 2008. See http://climatecongress.ku.dk/call-for-abstracts/ for further details. CONFIRMED SESSION INVITED SPEAKERS: Professor Kerry H. Cook, US Atmospheric tipping points Professor Andrew Weaver, Canada Oceanic tipping points Professor Peter Cox, UK Terrestrial tipping points CONFERENCE INFORMATION: "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions" 10-12 March 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark. http://climatecongress.ku.dk/ The Danish Government as host of the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP15) to be held in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 has asked the IARU to organise this conference as part of the run-up to the COP15. All findings will be compiled in a book on climate change, and an executive summary with the main findings from the congress will, after agreement with the Danish Government, be handed over to policy makers at the COP15 in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. The conference organisers are expecting several 1000 delegates to attend the meeting. Please circulate this announcement to others who may be interested inparticipating in this session or more broadly in the Copenhagen Congress. ----------------------------------------------------- Professor Matthew England Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) Faculty of Science The University of New South Wales UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052 Australia Telephone: +61-2-9385-7065 Facsimile: +61-2-9385-7123 E-mail: M.England@unsw.edu.au Web: www.maths.unsw.edu.au/~matthew CCRC Web: www.ccrc.unsw.edu.au