On 17 December 2012, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences will host an event, The Mathematics of Extreme Climatic Events, to mark the UK launch of the worldwide initiative Mathematics for Planet Earth 2013 .
From forecasting hurricanes to harnessing wave energy, leading mathematicians, scientists and policy makers will discuss how mathematical models and statistical analysis help us to predict, manage impact, and exploit nature’s climatic extremes. How mathematics helps Government to anticipate health-related consequences of natural catastrophic events and insurance companies to assess the financial risk of such occurrences.
Speakers will include Mr Rowan Douglas (Willis Analytics), Prof Lord Julian Hunt (UCL), Professor Virginia Murray (Health Protection Agency), Professor Rod Rainey (WS Atkins), Professor David Spiegelhalter (University of Cambridge).
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Image: Hurricane Katrina
NASA Goddard Photo and Video from Flickr
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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The Mathematics of Extreme Climatic Events
10 December 2012
Hurricanes. Floods. Ash dieback. Not to mention earthquakes, tsunami and bird flu. Hardly a day goes past without a natural hazard hitting the media. But why do the scientists sometimes get it wrong? And why can it be so hard to understand what they are saying to us? Will there be an earthquake or won’t there?