Earth Matters/Continuing Studies Panel: A Matter of Degrees

Earth Matters is co-sponsored by Stanford’s School of Earth Sciences and Stanford Continuing Studies. This series addresses global problems, facts, and myths; explains potential solutions based on the latest research; and engages the local community in a lively discussion.

A Matter of Degrees
A few long, hard rainstorms might move concerns about the California drought to the back burner for residents of the Golden State. But recent Stanford research indicates that in California, as around the world, conditions conducive to extreme weather events are more likely in a warming world. And whether temperatures rise two or four degrees Celsius will make a big difference. Noah Diffenbaugh, an internationally recognized climate scientist, will discuss recent findings by his research group and how they relate to water resources, agriculture, human health, and poverty vulnerability, including energy poverty. Diffenbaugh will also invite his PhD students to share their research, ranging from the relationship between global warming and the recent California drought to how water availability may change in our snow-dependent region.

Noah Diffenbaugh
Associate Professor of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford; Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Noah Diffenbaugh studies climate dynamics and climate impacts by probing the interface between physical processes and natural and human vulnerabilities. A lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, his research addresses the likelihood that high-impact climate change will occur locally and regionally at different levels of global warming.