Dave Lowe was the first person to make continuous atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements in the mid latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The uninterrupted series he began documents the relentless increase of the gas due to widespread and increasing fossil fuel usage over the last fifty years. In this webinar Dave describes his personal journey combining climate science and educational outreach in a world driven by corporate self interest and short term politics This decade is the last window of opportunity to have any hope of reducing carbon emissions enough to achieve the Paris Accord's temperature target of a 1.5 degrees C since pre-industrial times. What are the scenarios and what can be done on at personal as well as community levels to reduce emissions? Dave is optimistic that humans already have the tools to combat the climate crisis - the question is will we use them?

Meet the Speaker: Dr Dave Lowe

After completing Physics honours and Masters degrees at Victoria University Wellington in 1972 he worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California on a project aimed at the precise measurement of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These and similar measurements of methane and other atmospheric trace gases at Baring Head, New Zealand help underpin current international knowledge of the effects of industrial and agricultural impacts on the properties of the atmosphere.

He spent from 1978 to 1982 in Jülich Germany working on a PhD in atmospheric chemistry at the University of Cologne (grade Magna Cum Laude), a rewarding experience which he credits with changing his life for ever. After completing his PhD, Dave worked at several international scientific institutes including the Kernforschungsanlage, Jülich, NIWA in Wellington New Zealand, the US National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado, University of California in San Diego where he is a visiting scholar and for University of Heidelberg’s Institute of Environmental Physics.

From 2004 to 2007 he was one of two New Zealand lead authors on the United Nations IPCC 4^th assessment report on climate change working group 1 “The physical science basis” For ground breaking contribution to human knowledge on climate change science, contributors to this report were jointly awarded the 2007 Nobel peace prize.

Dave is now active in a small family company (LOWENZ ltd) specialising in science education. Projects have included driving the research needed by Gareth Morgan for a popular book on climate change, teaching atmospheric chemistry and climate change science and the relevance of renewable energy systems for sustainability. He acted as New Zealand’s science ambassador and coordinator with Germany from 2012 to 2018 promoting a wide variety of bilateral science and engineering projects.

During his career as an atmospheric scientist, Dave has personally witnessed a more than 30% growth in atmospheric carbon dioxide driving the current climate

Dave has written a best selling memoir 'The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change' describing his long journey with climate change - short listed for the 2022 NZ non fiction book awards. The book is available at most bookshops in New Zealand and internationally. Its also been released as a eBook https://mebooks.co.nz/science-and-natural-history/the-alarmist-ebook?sort=p.date_added&order=DESC&limit=80.

This webinar will run on Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).