Monday, April 22nd 2024, on the occasion of the International Earth Day, the SKEPSIS series launches the 7th episode, dedicated to the myths regarding climate change. Along with lecturer Bogdan Antonescu, PhD, and assistant Raisa-Gabriela Zamfirescu, PhD, we will discover the threats brought about by climate change, as well as what we can do to combat them.
Climate change and extreme weather phenomena
The impact of climate change on extreme weather phenomena is a complex subject and a highly active research field.
In this episode, lecturer Bogdan Antonescu, PhD, will explain a series of myths concerning climate change and extreme weather phenomena, such as storms, tornadoes, hurricanes or large hailstone.
At the same time, we will discover how we can distinguish between two important concepts of our days: weather and climate. We will also find out what are the technological instruments which could solve the problem of climate change and what we can do, at individual or collective level.
Episode no. 7 of the SKEPSIS series is available here:
Climate change and mathematical modelling
Sometimes, it is said that climate change models used to predict climate change are inappropriate for making precise predictions. In reality, climate models are the results of decades of research and development, and are built based on fundamental knowledge of atmospheric physics, oceanography and other connected sciences. These models are tested and validated using observed data and are capable of reproducing many characteristics of the actual climate. However, there are always incertitudes associated with these models and their limits.
In episode no. 7, lecturer Bogdan Antonescu, PhD, explains the reality of the way in which climate models function, helping us to understand that these offer a range of possible predictions, and their results are not accurate predictions of what will happen in the future.
Climate models take into consideration both anthropic and natural factors to understand climate change, as well as solar variations, volcanic eruptions, changes in the composition of the atmosphere and many relevant factors to obtain an image of the climate system as ample as possible.
Will climate change destroy the planet?
The term climate doomism refers to the catastrophic perspective or vision concerning our future in the context of climate change. It is often associated with a fatalist perspective, suggesting that climate change will have disastrous and irreversible consequences for our environment and human society as a whole.
Lecturer Bogdan Antonescu brings practical solutions to combat this pessimistic perspective of the future.
Bogdan Antonescu teaches at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Bucharest and is an expert in atmospheric physics and the physics of extreme weather phenomena.
His book, Tornadoes and Waterspouts in Europe: Depictions from 1555 to 1910, is available at this link.
More details about Bogdan Antonescu are available here.
Launched in October 2023, the SKEPSIS series is a project addressed to the large audience, through which UB researchers analyze, from a sociological viewpoint, the scientific truth and public skepticism concerning some of the most controversial topics of the moment. The series will explore the profound structures which influence our ways of perceiving and acting, when our health, identity or future are at stake.
The guests of this series, meant to explain the evolution of trust and skepticism regarding current subjects, are professors, doctoral students and researchers belonging to the academic community of the University of Bucharest.
The format of the episodes includes the presentation of the theme, followed by a dialogue between a moderator and a guest.
The video content in this section is produced by the Communication and Public Relations Department of the University of Bucharest, and research results are part of the program “SKEPSIS – Fabricating uncertainties regarding vaccination and climate change. Comparative study of legitimacy in two counter-science narratives”, implemented by the University of Bucharest and financed by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, Romania, PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-1589.
The video material on Myths about climate change was filmed at the Learning Centre of the University of Bucharest.
