On June 15, 2021, Professor Chen Wenying of Tsinghua University gave a lecture on "Introduction to climate change science" to our postgraduate students.
The course takes "International process of addressing climate change and low carbon development" as the theme, which is divided into three parts: 1. Greenhouse gases and their emissions; 2. The international process to deal with climate change; 3. Carbon neutralization. Professor Chen Wenying introduced that from 1990 to 2015, long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from industrial, agricultural and household activities led to a 37% increase in radiation forcing effect, of which carbon dioxide contributed 80% and was the most important greenhouse gas. The globalization of climate change requires all countries to act together and take effective countermeasures. Carbon emission right allocation and trading is an important international cooperation issue to mitigate climate change.
Professor Chen Wenying said that climate neutralization is a state in which human activities have no net impact on the climate system. It is necessary to strike a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and absorption caused by human activities and the geophysical effects caused by human activities in specific regions. Taking China as an example, China will enhance its national independent contribution, adopt more effective policies and measures, strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
At the end of the course, Professor Chen Wenying arranged several thinking questions for the students and encouraged them to actively ask questions, be diligent in thinking and questioning, and strive to explore the vast scientific world. After class, students ask questions one after another, the whole teaching process atmosphere is active, teacher-student interaction is frequent. Students said that the content of this course is rich and clear, and the teacher's presentation from simple to deep is very helpful to understand the knowledge and benefit them a lot.
Chen Wenying, professor and deputy director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics, Tsinghua University. As the person in charge, she has undertaken more than 30 projects, including the National "11th Five Year Plan" and "12th Five Year Plan" Science and Technology Support Programs, 973 Project, the National Development and Reform Commission's Low Carbon Development Macro Strategy Project, the National Natural Science Foundation Project, and the Sixth/Seventh EU Framework Project. She has published more than 100 papers and co-authored more than 20 monographs. She is the leading expert on the second national assessment report on climate change and the third national assessment report on climate change. She has mainly engaged in the research of energy model and climate change countermeasures “the fifth assessment report of IPCC: climate change mitigation” and “the fifth comprehensive assessment report of IPCC”.
