Seismic Parameters and Microseismicity, Paleseismolgy, Modeling
of Seismic Waves,
Hazard Assessments, Climate Variability and Extremes, Regional
level Modeling
of Climate and Climate Change
(November
13 - 17, 2006)
at
National Centre for Physics
Quaid-e-Azam
University Campus, Islamabad.
The main objective of this conference is to address two
phenomena of particular concern to mankind worldwide,
namely: Earthquakes and Global Climate Change, and to take a
stock of our knowledge to model and predict them and their
associated consequences.
The catastrophic Muzaffarabad earthquake of 2005 has brought
the realization that disaster prevention is as important as
disaster response. The conference aims to highlight the
different scientific aspects of earthquake studies that can
help in understanding this natural hazard, their prediction
and prevention.
Global Climate Change resulting from an increasing
concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere is now generally considered as the
greatest challenge to confront mankind in the 21st century.
According to the scientific assessments of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the
average surface temperature of the earth has increased by
0.6 oC over the past century and is expected to
increase further by 1.4 – 5.8 oC during the
current century, with an associated increase in
precipitation worldwide. These changes will not be uniform
in various parts of the world with the result that, while
some regions may experience much larger warming, the others
may undergo cooling instead. Likewise, the precipitation may
also increase or decrease in different regions to varying
extents. These climate changes are likely to have profound
impacts (generally negative) on various socio-economic
sectors like water resources, food production, human health,
etc. One especially worrisome consequence of the global
climate change is an expected large increase in, both, the
frequency and intensity of extreme climate events such as
floods, draughts and hurricane /tornadoes/tropical storms,
etc., with an associated increase in their devastating
consequences.
In the wake of the above, the last two days of the
conference will be devoted to the modeling and
predictability aspects of (i) climate and climate change at
the levels of world regions and sub-regions and (ii) climate
variability and occurrence of climate extremes, with focus
on the South Asia region.
International Advisory Committee
Local
Organizing Committee
F.
Giorgi (ASICTP, Trieste)
Qamar-uz-Zaman
Chaudhary (PMD, Islamabad)
V.
Keilis-Borok (UCAL, Los Angles)
Arshad
M. Khan (GCISC, Islamabad)
R.
K. Kolli (WMO, Geneva)
Shahid
A. Khan (MSSP, Islamabad)
G.
F. Panza (ASICTP and University of Trieste, Trieste)
