BRGM will be giving a presentation on the subject of "Engineering geology and climate change" at the technical symposium organised by the French Committee for Engineering Geology and the Environment (CFGI) on Thursday 11 May.

Just as the state of the sky changes each day as part of the course of nature, so does the climate, except within a different time scale. To start with, one of the causes behind climate change is linked to the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. However, it has now also become clear that the natural state of the climate is shifting due to greenhouse-gas emissions caused by human activity. This shift is primarily having an effect on the average global temperature, which is difficult to perceive in itself, as well as on the "standard deviation" of the global temperature, i.e. the upper and lower extremes, which are much easier to observe, and therefore to highlight in the media.

While engineering geologists cannot observe climate change itself, they are in a unique position in terms of being able to observe its effects at various levels. With this in mind, the speakers invited to the technical symposium on Thursday 11 May 2023 will address several inter-linked aspects of climate change and the challenges they represent.

Gildas Noury, an engineering geologist specialising in natural risks and geotechnics at BRGM, will be giving a presentation about the flooding and ground collapses in the Loiret département in spring 2016.

1:45pm     Welcome. [1:50pm – Opening of the online connection for the remote audience]

2:00pm     Introduction (Jean-David Vernhes, CFGI / UniLaSalle)

2:10pm     General background information for the session: climate projections (Jean-Christophe Calvet, CNRM)

2:35pm     Key issues regarding water resources (Luc Aquilina, University of Rennes)

3:00pm     Unprecedented droughts in clay-soil areas in France (Lamine Ighil Ameur, Cerema)

15h25     Changes in ancient foundation systems (Philippe Reiffsteck, Gustave Eiffel University)

3:50pm     Break

4:00pm     Floods and ground collapses in the Loiret département (Gildas Noury, BRGM)

4:25pm     Monitoring of a coastal area in the Somme (Olivier Bain, UniLaSalle)

4:50pm     The impact of storm Alex (Tristan Bourdin, CFGI / GEO-GC)

5:15pm     Final discussion and conclusion

Practical information

  • Thursday 11 May 2023, 2pm to 5.30pm
  • Video-conference and face-to-face session
  • Paris, Head Office of the French Geological Society (Société Géologique de France), in the Van Straelen room
  • Mandatory registration, free of charge