The past decade has brought episodes of exceptional and even historically unprecedented warmth, both in California and around the world. Perhaps even more disruptive than rising global average temperatures and record-breaking regional heatwaves have been the pronounced dry and wet extremes experienced over the same period.

Climate scientist Daniel Swain – who studies the dynamics and impacts of extreme events, including droughts, floods, storms and wildfires – will be a guest speaker for Distinctive Voices, a series of scientific lectures presented by the National Academy of Sciences. The talk is free and open to the public.

Swain is a researcher with the California Institute for Water Resources, within University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Climate Change Through the Lens of Increasing Hydroclimate Whiplash” is the title of Swain’s talk on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 7–8 p.m. at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center at 100 Academy Way in Irvine. 

In his lecture, Swain will discuss the emerging paradigm of increasing “hydroclimate whiplash” on a warming planet, reflecting on both the underlying science and the broader societal and ecological implications of increasingly wide swings between wet and dry extremes.

A key driver of the whiplash is the “expanding atmospheric sponge,” or the atmosphere’s ability to evaporate, absorb and release 7% more water for every degree Celsius the planet warms. As temperatures rise, the atmosphere can soak up more water, like an expanding sponge.

Register to attend this free lecture in person or online at https://www.nasonline.org/event/distinctive-voices-climate-change-through-the-lens-of-increasing-hydroclimate-whiplash.