Collegium Helveticum
hamzehpour_project_lakeurmia
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Symposium

Terrestrial Ecosystems at Risk
Exploring the Critical Nexus of Land Use and Climate Change

Informations

This is a public event. Participation is free of charge, registration is not required.

Participation via web conference will be possible. Link will follow soon.

The symposium is followed by a small reception.

The rapid growth of the global population, coupled with the limited availability of arable land, has led to widespread deforestation and severe land degradation worldwide, with these issues intensifying in the global South in recent decades. These processes have significantly contributed to the accelerated release of greenhouse gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere, thereby intensifying climate change.

This symposium will address land degradation as a critical outcome of climate change and land-use alteration, focusing on its impact on atmospheric dynamics, global dust patterns, and soil erosion, as well as its role in exacerbating global warming. Through multidisciplinary discussions, we aim to explore innovative solutions to mitigate these environmental challenges. Case studies of land-use and climate interactions across spatial scales—from local to regional and global—will highlight the impact of unsustainable development on aerosol emissions and soil properties. By examining these examples, we aim to develop strategies to combat land degradation and mitigate global warming, emphasizing sustainable land management.

Program

13:00

Opening & welcome remarks

Nikou Hamzehpour
Collegium Helveticum

Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Collegium Helveticum

13:15

Dust Global Cycle, Land Use Change and Climate
Impacts and Interconnections

The Global Dust Cycle and Its Interactions with Cloud Formation

Ulrike Lohmann
Atmospheric Physics
ETH Zurich, CH

The Interaction Between Land Use Change and Global Warming

Sonia Seneviratne
Atmospheric and Climate Science
ETH Zurich, CH

14:15

Coffee break

14:45

The Interplay of Land Use and Climate Change in Dust Emission Dynamics
Insights from Southern Africa and Beyond

The Release and the Specific Properties of Agricultural Dust

Roger Funk
Soil Erosion and Feedback​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), DE

The Nature and Controls of Southern Africa’s Major Dust Sources

Frank Eckardt
Environmental and Geographical Science Department
University of Cape Town, ZA

Land Cover, Drought, and Dust Emissions on the West Coast of South Africa

Nicolaus J. Kuhn
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Basel, CH

Human Manipulations and Climate Change Control on Urmia Lake as a New Source of Dust Storms

Ali Mohammadi
Department of Environmental Sciences
Istanbul Technical University, TR

17:00

Ecosystems and Climate Change Mitigation

Soil Resilience
Organic Matter is the Clue

Ingrid Kögel-Knabner
Soil Science
Technical University of Munich, DE

Land Degradation and Shrinking Water Bodies as Drivers of Sand and Dust Storms
Mitigation via Source Management in the Frame of the Unccd Sds Toolbox

Clauio Zucca
Soil Science
University of Sassari, IT

Small but Mighty
The Crucial Role of Peatlands in Climate Change Mitigation

Mana Gharun
Biosphere-Atmosphere Interaction
University of MĂĽnster, DE

Nature, Time, and Humans
Understanding Soil Dynamics at Larger Scales

Sebastian Dötterl
Soil Resources
ETH Zurich, CH

18:30

Closing remarks

Followed by a small reception.

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