Series of lectures on „Ice & Climate: Permafrost in a changing environment" hold in the Museum of Natural Science Bozen/Bolzano (Southtyrol - Italy).

Lecture I “Ice and Climate: Permafrost and Climate Change” Stepan Gruber 24.03.2009

Until recent years permafrost was not very well known to the great public – but today often permafrost degradation and climate change are mentioned together. The lecture will explain what permafrost is, how it’s presence or absence influence the life of people in mountain regions and why it is so a fascinating research object.

Stephan Gruber is a lecturer of the University of Zurich (Swiss). He is studying the presence and the degradation of permafrost and glaciers in mountain ranges.

Lecture II “Ice and Climate:The melting paradise” Wolfgang Blümel 31.03.2009

The native people of the arctic circle has  experienced slow, but vast changes in the last twenty years of their environment. Their place on Earth is literally melting in the sun. Native people and their knowledge can be a valuable source for climatic change – if we are willing to listen.

Wolfgang Blümel visited many times Siberia and the Arctic – since five years he is working as geologist and ethnologist in arctic and subarctic zones. He tries to give voice to the native people of this regions in the ongoing worldwide debate about climatic change and his consequences.

Lecture III “Ice and Climate: Pingos, Palsa and Permafrost” Detlef Leythäuser 21.04.2009

The arctic landscape can giva an impression how Europe seemed alike 20.000 years ago – the landscape was dominated by permafrost and glaciers. During the lecture modern examples from the periglacial regions in Canada, Greenland and Spitzbergen  will be shown – without forgetting to mention the extraordinary flora nd fauna found in this vast regions.

Detlef Leythäuser s a lecturer of the University of Köln (Germay). His research focus on the genesis of deposits of coal, gas and oil in the Arctic.

Lecture IV “Ice and Climate: Effects of climatic change on permafrost.” Mauro Guglielmin 28.04.2009

The global warming has a negative effect on the visible ice, but also on the hidden permafrost. In the Alps the rising temperatures increases the danger of rock falls, and in the circumpolar regions the thawing soils release vast amounts of the greenhouse gas methan.

Mauro Guglielmin s a lecturer of the University of Insubria (Italy), his research focus on the glaciology and geomorphology in relationship with changing climate. He studied the effects not only in the Italian Alps, but also on the Antarctic continent.