What We Know (and Don’t Know) about Climate Change

Understanding climate change and especially forecasting it and its effects requires in-depth knowledge from many and often very different fields of natural science. Although a significant part of climate change takes place in the atmosphere, the various interactions between the soil and the atmosphere, the oceans and the atmosphere, and the Earth’s ecosystems and the atmosphere are of central importance in understanding the whole. The purpose of the “What We Know (and Don’t Know) about Climate Change” presentations on Thursday 11 April 2024, at 9:30–12:15, is to show different perspectives on climate change research, which has a strong foothold in Finland and is also well-known internationally.

After a short introduction, Professor Kristiina Karhu speaks 9:40–10:15 on topic with the title ”Soil Carbon and Climate Change”. There is a risk of increasing carbon losses from soil with climate warming, and potential positive feedback to climate change. On the other hand, natural climate solutions – such as land-management that reduces carbon emissions and other greenhouse gas emissions – offer also possibilities to mitigate climate change.

Professor Mikael Ehn speaks 10:15–10:50 on topic with the title “How Atmospheric Chemistry Forms Extremely Low-Volatile Organic Vapors”. Various natural and anthropogenic processes lead to emissions of volatile vapors into the atmosphere. Once in the air, they become susceptible to atmospheric chemical reactions. Some of these reactions will lead to products with low, or even extremely low, vapor pressures. Such low-volatile products are important, as the condensable vapors can contribute to aerosol formation. Aerosol particles, in turn, impact both Earth’s radiative balance as well as air quality and human health. In this presentation, I will outline recent discoveries of the chemical processes that lead to the formation of the least volatile product vapors.

Senior Researcher Joonas Merikanto speaks 10:50–11:25 on topic with the title ”Climate Change – Knowns and Unknowns”. The rate of ongoing climate change appears to have increased during the last decade. Where are we heading, and how complete is our scientific understanding on the ongoing changes in the Earth system? I will discuss the latest scientific knowledge on climate change – and the identified gaps in our knowledge – from a climate modeller’s perspective.

Post doc. Researcher Stephen Ingram speaks 11:25–11:55 on topic with the title “The Hidden Role of Gases in Trees”. Trees are able to achieve something remarkable: they transport water, and dissolved gas, against the flow of gravity, under negative pressure. In this talk I will describe the interplay of biology, chemistry and physics that allows this process to work, from a molecular to a tissue level.

Text: Arkke Eskola