Professor Katharine L. Ricke from the University of California, USA will give two public lectures on sunlight reflection methods of climate intervention in August in Lapland. The first lecture will take place in Rovaniemi, the Arktikum house (Pohjoisranta 4) on Wednesday 17 August 2016 at 14–14.45, and the second lecture in Sodankylä at the Sodankylä Municipal Hall (Jäämerentie 1) on Thursday 18 August 2016 at 14–14.45. The lectures will be in English, but copies of the presentation in Finnish will be available on site.

After the lecture, the participants are invited to participate in a focus group discussion on community-specific viewpoints of climate intervention. In the discussion, the participants will explore their own questions, ideas, and issues of concern they have concerning climate intervention, from the viewpoints of Lapland or their own field of expertise or livelihood. Previous knowledge about climate intervention is not required, as Professor Ricke will give an introduction to the topic in the beginning of the event. The focus group discussion will be held in Finnish and it is estimated to last for about an hour.

The lectures are open for all, but the organizers hope the participants would register their participation in the interview by Friday 12 August, if possible, by email to ilona.mettiainen(at)ulapland.fi.

Climate is warming more rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere, and the Arctic is expected to face particularly strong impacts. Moreover, Arctic climate change is expected to accelerate climate change also elsewhere on the planet. Concern has also been expressed over how Arctic local communities can adapt to climate change. Consequently, climate change mitigation is nowadays taken seriously globally, which is seen for instance in the historical Paris climate agreement achieved in December 2015. On the other hand, high hopes have been expressed in the business opportunities that could open up as the Arctic sea ice melts.

So far, there is very little research conducted on local communities’ viewpoints on climate intervention. A team from Cornell University, USA is now studying this in the Arctic in collaboration with the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland and other international research groups. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the issues and viewpoints that Arctic local communities find important to be considered in climate intervention, in order to support further modelling and societal decision-making on the issue.

More information:

Researcher Holly Buck
Cornell University
hjb84(at)cornell.edu

Researcher Ilona Mettiäinen
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
040 484 4273, ilona.mettiainen(at)ulapland.fi


LaY/AK/JW & IM