Lecture - 100 years of the Bureau of Meteorology

Speaker: Dr David Day
Where: Royal Society of Victoria, 9 Victoria Street, Melbourne
When: Thursday 27 August
Time: 7.00pm
Cost: Members $20 - Non members $25

Bookings essential - 9326 9288

A joint Royal Historical Society of Victoria / Royal Society of Victoria Lecture

For decades meteorologists were derided by cartoonists for getting their forecasts wrong. It was not just the comfort of Australians at stake, it was also their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives. Floods, bushfires and cyclones all took their toll, while pilots and their passengers regularly risked their lives in absence of timely storm warnings.

For most of the twentieth century meteorologists did not dare to make seasonal predictions. That has now changed. Meteorologists now make confident predictions about the weather for the coming week whle climatologists now make hesitant predictions for the coming seasons. The climate records collected over the past century have become a vital tool in assessing the pace and direction of climate change. David Day discusses these and other issues in his talk.