Examining Past and Present Climate Change, Projecting and Preparing for Future Changes, and the Roles Physics Plays

Weather and climate occur because of the uneven absorption of solar radiation on Earth and the subsequent redistribution of that energy through various processes. Natural phenomena and anthropogenic activities that alter fluxes in the global energy balance drive climate change. Physics helps us understand how the climate system behaves and how changes in the system will manifest in the future. This presentation will provide an overview of climate change throughout Earth's history to put recent changes and projected future changes into context. We will also discuss some of the impacts associated with past and present climate change and the potential effects due to climate change over the next 100 years. The role that physics will play in improving predictive models, engineering infrastructure and technologies that will help us adapt to climate change in the future, and developing geoengineering strategies to mitigate climate change will be highlighted.