Bacon and Eggheads

This flagship series brings together Parliamentarians with experts across science and engineering, showcasing outstanding Canadian research accomplishments. Its purpose is to provide unbiased insight into topical scientific issues, within a non-partisan forum in which lobbying is not permitted. This prestigious forum represents a unique opportunity for scientists to communicate important findings to a distinguished and influential audience, which includes key decision-makers.

The series is organized by PAGSE, an umbrella group of 25 + science and engineering organizations operating under the auspices of the Royal Society, and is cosponsored by NSERC.

Gravity measurements from space reveal a rapid loss of land ice from both Greenland and Antarctica. These observations, the most accurate yet, confirm the link between increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the lower atmosphere and accelerated warming in the northern hemisphere—a warming that is amplified as ice area shrinks. Our speaker will explain how this growing accord between climate theory and observation helps validate current climate models, making them valuable tools to understand not only today’s climate but also the very significant climate challenges that lie ahead of us, and the need for action to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Recently named the 2011 winner of the NSERC Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, W. Richard Peltier of the University of Toronto is the founding Director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Global Change Science. His extraordinary achievements have been matched by his leadership of three national research networks in Canada. He was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. In 2010, he received the prestigious Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, which has also honoured such researchers as Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. In 2002, Dr. Peltier was awarded the Vetlesen Prize, which is often referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the Earth sciences.

Organized by: The Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE)