Matthew England, Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), will give a seminar on Friday 25 April 2025 from 11h30 à 12h20, in the Natural Sciences Amphitheatre (Building 8) of the campus Saint Charles AMU, in the framework of the annual conference of Doctoral School 251, on the theme : The ocean, protector but also destroyer: how the oceans are slowing global warming while sowing chaos.
Biography : Matthew England is an internationally renowned expert on large-scale climate-ocean dynamics. Professor of Ocean and Climate Dynamics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney (Australia), he has conducted research from the tropics to Antarctica, over periods ranging from a few seasons to several millennia. M. England completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 1992 and held a Fulbright Scholarship at Princeton University (USA) in 1990. He has previously worked at the CNRS (France) and at CSIRO’s Climate Change Research Program (Australia). He has been with the UNSW since 1995, where he is currently working on the preparation of a new Centre of Excellence. M. England is a member of the Australian National Academy of Sciences and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Abstract : Earth’s vast oceans play a critical role in mitigating the worst effects of climate change. By absorbing heat and carbon, oceans slow atmospheric warming and moderate extreme climate variability. But these benefits have a whip tail. As oceans warm, acidify and expand, they are also starting to disrupt ecosystems, bleach coral reefs, melt ice caps, reshape coastlines and generate more severe hurricanes. In order to benefit from the oceans’ protection without experiencing generations of punishment, it is imperative that powerful countries, such as the United States, Australia and European countries, act aggressively to cut emissions.