Keynote Speech
Keynote Speaker
James Voogt, a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University, is an urban climatologist. He specializes in the thermal climates of cities.
Dr. Voogt’s research examines how remote sensors view the three-dimensional surface temperature of cities, the use of remotely sensed surface temperatures in urban climate model evaluation, impacts of trees and green roofs on urban surface temperatures, and spatial variations in heat impacts on urban residents.
He is also an Editorial Board member for Remote Sensing of Environment, past president of the International Association for Urban Climate, and the 2022 Luke Howard Award winner for outstanding contributions to the field of urban climatology.
Keynote Speech:
Climate Change and Cities
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report 7 (AR7) cycle will, for the first time, include a Special Report on Climate Change and Cities. This Special Report marks the culmination of a slow recognition by the IPCC over its series of Assessment Reports that cities, despite being a small ecosystem in their spatial extent, are critical sites to study.
As home to a growing majority of the world’s population, cities are becoming a focal point for the development of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time preparing to face and reduce the risks associated with large scale climate change.
Through the lens of urban heat, I will illustrate the local climate impacts of urbanization, how large scale climate change is expected to alter these urban climates, some ways urban climate scientists are addressing these changes, and future research needs for this critically important ecosystem.
