Inaugural lecture Mr Prof R. Bintanja: Het Arctische gebied – een donkere toekomst?

The Arctic region is subject to rapid changes. Temperatures rise two to three times as fast as in the rest of the world, sea ice melts away very quickly, and the precipitation increases. Where will these changes lead to? Are we indeed on our way to an ice-free Arctic, where temperatures become so mild that rainfall becomes the norm instead of snowfall? And if so, what are the consequences, for example for Arctic ecosystems, and for the carbon cycle?

In order to provide answers to these questions, Rinchard Bintanja will propose a collaboration between the Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG) of the University of Groningen and the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI). ESRIG specializes in observational knowledge about Arctic ecosystems and the carbon cycle, while KNMI develops and uses a state-of-the-art climate model (EC-Earth), which is currently being extended into an Earth System Model (ESM).

More accurate scenarios

By specifically focusing the model validation on the interactions between climate on the one hand and carbon cycle / ecosystems on the other, we can use the ESM to make more accurate simulations of the future of the Arctic. These will show when and how the sea ice will disappear, and what the consequences are, for example, for marine Arctic ecosystems. This allows us to make more accurate scenarios of the major changes that await the Arctic in the (near) future.

More information

• Inaugural lecture: Mr Prof R. Bintanja
• Title: Het Arctische gebied – een donkere toekomst?
• Chair: Climate and environmental changes
• Faculty: Science and Engineering
• Register at the latest one week in advance by returning the replycard or by filling in the registration form