Welcome

Welcome to the 2008 Gussow-Nuna Geoscience Conference on Climate Change.

The history of Earth's climate is one of continual change. Many natural processes contribute to this change, including long-term forcing related to the movement and elevation of the Earth's continental plates, changes in the amount and distribution of solar radiation received by the Earth driven by regular changes in the earth's orbit and by changes in the sun's activity, and climatic modulations driven by periodic and episodic oscillations in the pattern of oceanic and atmospheric currents.

There is a global consensus amongst most scientists that the climate is now also being forced by the anthropogenic addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is now greater than at any time in the past 500,000 years. However, it remains unclear what is the balance of forces in driving current changes in climate.

One of the most important ways to evaluate current models of climate change is to thoroughly explore the record of change through the last few million years of Earth history. This is an exercise for the geosciences, and it is the first of two major objectives of this conference to examine this record and work towards a better understanding of what it tells us about the dynamics of the climate system at all physical scales and time scales. There is a rich record of paleoclimatic variability and an array of techniques for evaluating climate history, based on the study of landscapes, preserved sediments, soils, cave deposits, marine and other drill cores, ice, and other records. Only by working from such an understanding can we reliably evaluate the contribution being made to climate change by anthropogenic processes.

The major cause of greenhouse gas increases is the combustion of fossil fuels, and there is an increasing realization that means must be found to increase the efficiencies in our use of fossil fuels and bring about substantial net reductions in their use in the coming decades. This presents a two-part problem: Worldwide economic growth is increasing rather than reducing the use of fossil fuels, and such growth is leading to an accelerating depletion of these resources, with many experts predicting a decline in the availability of inexpensive oil, natural gas and coal within the foreseeable future. Similar problems are emerging with the other crucial natural resource: water. Impending shortages therefore comprise a second equally important reason for reducing the use of fossil fuels, and it is the second major objective of this conference to review the state of the supply, to discuss energy sustainability, and to examine energy alternatives and some possible technical solutions.

The conference will consist of two and one half days of invited oral presentations. Additional presentations by poster-display are to be solicited from the geoscience community. The conference will conclude with a one-day field trip to examine the record of Holocene climate change in the Banff-Calgary area.

The Gussow Geoscience Conference is a meeting focusing on new and emerging issues related to the petroleum industry. The meeting is intended to bring together recognized experts from diverse disciplines to provide a broad range of perspectives on the conference theme. Co-sponsoring with the CSPG this year is the Geological Association of Canada, which endorses Nuna Research Conferences to advance key geological knowledge in a topical area by gathering together small but expert groups of research workers in a suitable environment.

The 2008 Gussow-Nuna Conference is being held in conjunction with the International Year of Planet Earth.

For more info on the International Year of Planet Earth, please visit: http://www.yearofplanetearth.org/