On Thursday, January 17, 2019, the Science-Actions association invites you to discuss the issue of weather forecasting. The Café Scientifique event, entitled "No more predictions based on frogs or swallows: meteorology, a true modern science," will be held at the Le Beaujolais restaurant in Chambéry, starting at 8 p.m.
No more predictions based on frogs or swallows: meteorology is a true modern science.
Although people are increasingly living in cities, their daily lives remain heavily dependent on the weather. Cold spells increase heating bills and fill doctors' offices, hot spells have similar effects, rainy periods raise fears of flooding, dry spells cause water supply problems, and even the slightest layer of snow or ice disrupts transportation, etc. For professionals, the consequences of unpredictable weather can be disastrous. Local examples include hail or frost destroying wine production, and snowfall disrupting access to ski resorts and making off-piste skiing dangerous.
For all these reasons, reliable weather forecasts have become essential. Gone are the early days of a reasoned approach to meteorology in ancient China, India, and Greece, gone are the sayings of grandmothers, the Savoyard Almanac, and Albert Simon's frog. Today, meteorology is a modern science based mainly on thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. And weather patterns are calculated using some of the most powerful computers available. Nevertheless, can we predict all weather events? Are human forecasts still competitive? Will global warming disrupt local weather patterns? Can weather forecasts remain free?
Come and ask these questions and many more to specialists at the next science café.
With the participation of:
- Fabien Arnaud, Director of Research at the CNRS, Environments, Dynamics, and Mountain Territories Laboratory (EDYTEM), University of Savoie Mont Blanc;
- Mathieu Fructus, engineer at the Snow Research Center, National Center for Meteorological Research, Grenoble;
- Bernard Bachellier-Gaultier, winegrower in Aiton.
SCIENTIFIC CAFÉS
Cafés Scientifiques (or "Cafés Sciences et Citoyen, Débat") allow the general public to discuss a variety of topics, often related to current events, with experts, researchers, and professionals in a friendly atmosphere. They are organized by the Science-Actions association, in collaboration with:
- Savoie Mont Blanc University
- the city of Chambéry
- the Eureka Gallery
- the Beaujolais Restaurant and theAstrée cinema
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