We are excited to welcome Prof. Saravanan for his ESSIC Seminar, "Predicting the Unprecedented: The Philosophy of Weather and Climate Modeling". In anticipation of his February 14 seminar, Prof. Saravanan is generously giving away a copy of his new book, “The Climate Demon: Past, Present, and Future of Climate Prediction”, recently published by the Cambridge University Press, to one lucky ESSIC Seminar attendee!

Saravanan is Professor and Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. He is a climate scientist, with research interests in atmosphere-ocean interaction and the applications of machine learning. He has served on the NRC Committee on the Assessment of Intraseasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction and Predictability, and the Science Steering Committee of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Atlantic (PIRATA). He helped create the TED-Ed animated short, “Is the weather actually becoming more extreme?” His recent book is The Climate Demon: Past, Present, and Future of Climate Prediction.

The Climate Demon discusses climate predictions – and the computer models behind them – that play a key role in shaping public opinion and our response to the climate crisis. Some people interpret these predictions as ‘prophecies of doom’ and some others dismiss them as mere speculation, but the vast majority are only vaguely aware of the science behind them. This book gives a balanced view of the strengths and limitations of climate modeling, while exploring its philosophical foundations. It covers historical developments, current challenges, and future trends in the field. The accessible discussion of climate modeling only requires a basic knowledge of science. Uncertainties in climate predictions and their implications for assessing climate risk are analyzed, as are the computational challenges faced by future models. The book concludes by highlighting the dangers of climate ‘doomism’, while also making clear the value of predictive models, and the severe and very real risks posed by anthropogenic climate change. For more info, visit: https://ClimateDemon.com

In order to enter the raffle, enter your email address and name below. When you join the seminar WebEx, please make sure to "Join via the Web" and enter your name as it appears here. We will be cross-referencing the attendee list with the results of this form.

Note that in order to be eligible for the prize, you MUST be present for the ESSIC Seminar during the time of the giveaway, which will occur at the end of the seminar's questions portion. If the chosen winner is not present at the time of the giveaway, we will choose another participant as the winner.

To learn more about the talk, visit the event site at https://go.umd.edu/saravanan