Chapman Climate Change Expert Invited to Speak at the American University in Cairo

Over winter break, Chapman professor Hesham El-Askary traveled to the epicenter of political change to talk about another kind of change on everyone’s mind: climate change.


Dr. El-Askary, associate professor Schmid College of Science and Technology and member of the
Center of Excellence in Earth Systems Modeling & Observations
, recently traveled to
The American University in Cairo
(AUC), where he was invited to speak about climate change and its impact on extreme local weather.

In the middle of the famous Tahrir Square, center for the
Egyptian revolution
on the AUC campus, Dr. El-Askary spoke about the dynamic, fragile earth system and the different processes taking place between the earth’s various spheres, thus shaping the environment we live in. Furthermore, he spoke about the measured- and witnessed- increase in the earth global average temperature by 0.8
^o
C since the pre-industrial age (the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fifth assessment report
that appeared in late-2013 states it is even higher at 0.89
^o
C).

In his presentation, Dr. El-Askary shed light on why we are seeing more extreme weather events. The increased frequency, magnitude and duration of multiple weather extremes have captured attention worldwide in recent years- and particularly as much of the United States freezes under a 
polar vortex
.

It appears that the frequency of larger precipitation events is also increasing, but that of smaller events is diminishing. This is resulting in the same net amount of precipitation for some regions, but the distribution is now different. That is to say, precipitation is less frequent, but more intense.

In his presentation in Cairo, Dr. El-Askary spoke about issues of local interest, too. For example, he discussed the changes in the coral reefs of
Hurghada, Egypt
observed through satellite images since 1987.  He also highlighted his research from an E.U.-funded mega-project that explores the impact that climate change has on the sea level rise over the Delta region. This work resulted in his co-authoring six chapters in the prestigious three-volume book series on
Regional Climate Change in the Mediterranean
published by Springer.

Dr. Hesham El-Askary
is a tenured associate professor of Remote Sensing and Earth System Sciences, in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University. He is also a tenured associate professor on leave with the Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt.