Public defence: Frank Arthur

Frank Arthur will defend his PhD degree about the benefits of increasing the resolution of climate models to investigate the past, present, and future climate in Europe.

26 Jun

Practical information

  • Date: 26 June 2024
  • Time: 10.00 - 15.00
  • Location: Bø, Rom 4-311A og Zoom
  • Download calendar file

    • Follow the public defence on Zoom

    Program 

    10.00. Trial Lecture: The Holocene Temperature Conundrum

    11.30. Public Defence: "Modelling and characterization of climate, environment, and human impact during the Holocene and Eemian using an Interactive Physical Downscaling"

    Assessment Committee

    • First Opponent: Dr. (Researcher) Gustav Sandberg, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute
    • Second Opponent: Dr. (Reearcher) Johann Jungclaus, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany

    Supervisors

    • Principal Supervisor: Professor Hans Renssen, University of South-Eastern Norway 
    • Co-Supervisors:  Professor Didier Roche, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands and Professor Marie- Jose Gaillard, Linneaus University, Sweden

    Chair of Defence

Any questions?

Frank Arthur is defending his thesis for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of South-Eastern Norway.

The doctoral work has been carried out at the Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences in the program Ecology.

Everyone is welcome to follow the trial lecture and the public defence.

Read the thesis here.

Summary


This project has utilized an inexpensive high-resolution climate model (25 km) to investigate the climate of the past 127, 000 years in Europe.  Learning from the past is important because if we want to project what will happen to our climate in the future, we must look back into history.

Frank ArthurThe findings from this study show that an improved climate model tool with a high resolution can provide detailed information such as land use changes and local features in Europe, particularly in high elevated regions such as the Alps, the Scandes, and the Mediterranean. Moreover, when the high-resolution model combined with archaeological data was applied with volcanic eruptions in the years 536 AD and 540 AD (the so called Fimbulwinter), the results revealed a significant cooling in Scandinavia with a sudden decrease in precipitation and a very sharp decline in agriculture activities following the volcanic event.

The results imply that a social shift that was already underway was intensified by this sudden climatic change. The downscaled model used in this study has provided valuable insights into past climate variations such as temperature and precipitation and their impacts on the environment and humans.

This approach not only enhances our understanding of past climates, but also helps improve our ability to predict future climate trends and their potential implications for the region.

Continued advancements in high-resolution modelling techniques hold great promise for further refining our knowledge of Europe's climate history and informing strategies for adapting to future climate challenges.

The Increased knowledge about climate evolution in Europe is useful in many ways; for example, it can improve the performance of climate models and policymakers will use the results from this project to acquire conceptual frameworks and practical tools for responding to current global climate and environmental change.