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.
Programme for the session
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