The CREATE Symposium was held on 6 December 2019, with a theme centered on Climate Change. There was feature keynote sessions and presentation in the morning followed by a series of presentations/panel discussions in the afternoon (by researchers at CREATE and their collaborators) on three sub-themes: (1) Mitigation, (2) Adapting to Climate Change and (3) Policy and Planning.

One of the keynote sessions was given by Prof Daniel Rosenfeld from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ).

Prof Daniel Rosenfeld titled:”  Rethinking the calculations of global warming".

Abstract: “The emissions of particulate air pollution counter part of the warming induced by emissions of greenhouse gases. It does so mainly by inducing brighter and more expansive shallow clouds over ocean, which reflect more sunlight back to space. The quantification of this aerosol cooling effect mediated by clouds has been very uncertain. Recent improvements in measurement methodologies show that the amount of this cooling is much greater than previously estimated. The fact that the world is warming despite this large cooling effect means a much greater future global warming when the heavy air pollution will be cleaned while greenhouse gases will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere. An alternative possibility is that some of the aerosol cooling effect is compensated by aerosol warming effect when they pollute deep clouds. This aerosol effect is evident, for example, as intensification of thunderstorms over the ocean near Singapore. The quantification of this warming effect is still being developed. In summary, the climate system appears to be more vulnerable than previously estimated to manmade emissions of different kinds. Many of the relevant processes are not yet accounted for properly in present observations and calculations of global warming. We still have poor controls on monitoring and managing Earth’s energy budget. Improving that is necessary for reducing the uncertainty in climate prediction as well for taking the correct necessary actions”.

The President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof Asher Cohen and the Vice President for International affairs, Prof Oron Shagrir, participated in the CREATE Symposium during their visit in Singapore.

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