TUMorrow. Embracing the University of the Future!

Prof. Dr. Thomas Birner (LMU): "Be aware, prevent, prepare: a realist's perspective on the climate crisis"

Abstract: One may identify certain paradigms in public discourse of climate change, where it was shaped initially by the urge to create awareness, countered by dismissal. Discourse then shifted to alarmism with the urge for activism, countered by active denialism. When portrayed in such black-white dichotomy the need for diverse discourse and open-minded solution strategies may get lost. Even worse, climate anxiety paired with doomism has become somewhat prominent more recently, which together with passive denialism may lead to inaction and resignation. In this talk, I will argue that a realistic outlook for our path through the climate crisis may include both, the awareness that fundamental changes to the way we live are likely and require preparedness, and that catastrophic change is preventable by actions that are by now well-known and realizable. Climate change as one of the defining issues of our time will surely affect the future of our universities. At the same time our universities offer an ideal arena for creative, open-minded discourse on such pressing issues - let's embrace it!

Biography: Thomas Birner is a physicist, specializing in atmospheric physics with research interests broadly in weather and climate dynamics. After obtaining a master's degree in physics from the University of Leipzig in 1999 he worked as a PhD student in atmospheric physics at Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Oberpfaffenhofen obtaining his PhD degree from LMU in 2003. He then did postdoctoral research work in Reading, UK, and Toronto, Canada, after which he spent 9 years as a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, USA. He returned to Munich as a professor of theoretical meteorology at LMU in 2018.