Dear Colleagues,
We are cordially inviting you to Granada to the First Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) Symposium.
The Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) project is an initiative of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and one of the endorsed IPY science projects (Project No 54). ACE aims to investigate the climate and glacial history of Antarctica by linking climate and ice-sheet modeling studies with geophysical surveys and geological studies, on and around the Antarctic continent.
The main theme of the First ACE Symposium will therefore be the integration of paleoenvironmental data and numerical models for improved understanding of processes related to the past, present, and future dynamics and interactions of the Antarctic atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere. The Symposium aims to bring together scientists from different but complimentary fields of research in paleoclimate (geological, geophysical, biological, ice-core, and modeling communities) working in Antarctica. We will explore how these scientific communities can interact to obtain the most complete Cenozoic Antarctic paleoclimate records through data-model comparisons. Interactions will also be promoted with the paleoclimate scientific communities working in the Arctic.
The polar areas are highly sensitive to changes in forcing of the ocean - climate system as is clearly shown by global climate models (GCM). Both polar oceans are centers of cold deep-water generation and therefore they are the key drivers of the ocean thermohaline circulation and deep-water ventilation. This represents a direct influence on global heat distribution and climate. The snow and ice fields in the polar areas influence the Earth's albedo and related cooling of the Earth. Therefore, the polar areas represent a sensitive indicator for Global Change. In contrast to its importance for the global climate system only few percent of the Cenozoic history of Antarctica and the Arctic is investigated. Records of past environmental conditions, retrieved from paleo-archives such as ice cores or sediments, provide clues to nature’s response to forcing, but these too are incomplete, especially in terms of spatial coverage. By knowing past natural variability we can accurately identify when present day changes exceed the natural state. We can also study, for example, past warm and cold periods to determine the processes in the oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere and biosphere that caused them and the effects that they had on the environment at those times. This information, which is the focus of the Science Themes and sub-Themes of the First ACE Symposium, is important to create improved modeling of future climate changes.
Granada is a city of dreams, a mythical, romantic place and one of the most visited cities in Europe. It is also a city of culture and learning which makes it very appropriate host for important congresses.
We look forward to a very successful Symposium and to meeting you in Granada in September 2009.
Carlota Escutia Dotti
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra
CSIC-University of Granada, Spain
President of the Organising Committee
