date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:29:53 +0100 from: Juerg Luterbacher subject: Fwd: decision PAGES workshop proposal to: Henry.F.Diaz@noaa.gov, kahyae@itu.edu.tr, p.jones@uea.ac.uk, elena.xoplaki@giub.unibe.ch, rgarciah@fis.ucm.es Dear all here is the official confirmation of the PAGES support. Ercan, I hope this is enough for the turkish admin. I don't have more anyway. I think we should have a positive feedback from TUBITAK the latest at the beginning of February otherwise I have my doughts. Ercan, from Elena you also got the confirmation of financial support by the ESF, the 24th October. best wishes from Bern Juerg ----- Weitergeleitete Nachricht von Thorsten Kiefer ----- Datum: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:42:58 +0100 Von: Thorsten Kiefer Antwort an: Thorsten Kiefer Betreff: decision PAGES workshop proposal An: juerg@giub.unibe.ch Dear Juerg, Your proposal for a workshop on extreme climate events of the last 1-2 kyr in the greater Mediterranean region was evaluated by PAGES Executive Committee. The EXCOM decided to fund the proposal because it is considered an important element of the network of regional climate reconstructions of the last 2k within PAGES Focus 2 and targets an understudied region. It was agreed to offer you $5,000 initially, with the possibility of additional funds once you provide more detailed information on the participants and on money-spending thereby considering a few suggestions from EXCOM, as outlined below. The $5,000 may be used to fund participants' travel, accommodation and food costs. Part of the money should be spent on supporting the attendance of scientists from the eastern Mediterranean/Middle East region. The EXCOM would be willing to consider an additional contribution towards the requested total of $9,000 based on additional information, to be submitted preferentially before the next EXCOM meeting in May 08: - Provide more detail on the intended spending of PAGES funds. - Explain reasoning for inviting participants from outside the region. - Demonstrate the level of involvement of the region's communities (eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, Northern Africa). For information on Northern Africa, EXCOM suggests that you get in contact with Mohammed Umer, Ethiopia, from the the PAGES SSC. PLEASE NOTE: PAGES is to have final approval of the people selected for support. Please send me the list of names and a short note on each person's expertise, when you have made your selection. Michelle Kaufmann, PAGES Finance Officer (kaufmann@pages.unibe.ch) will contact you with details on how to obtain the money and how to account for its spending. You will be required to sign a contract with PAGES before the funds are transferred. A requirement of PAGES funding is a brief scientific workshop report (600 words max., 1 figure, 1 logo) for the PAGES newsletter issue following the workshop. Also, please include the PAGES logo or a brief text acknowledgement in any pre- or post-workshop publications. The PAGES logo can be downloaded at: http://www.pages-igbp.org/services/logos.html Furthermore, PAGES encourages organizers to see that data related to the workshop are made accessible through submission to a database. Information on how the data can be accessed should be included in the workshop report. The PAGES funding you are receiving is available thanks to the U.S. and Swiss National Science Foundations and NOAA. We look forward to the results of the workshop. Kind regards, Thorsten Kiefer, on behalf of the PAGES Executive Committee On 23 Nov 2007, at 10:02, juerg@giub.unibe.ch wrote: > Title: Extreme Climate Events of the Last 1000-2000 Years in the > Greater Mediterranean Region and Their Impact on Cultural History > > Contact person: > Juerg Luterbacher/Elena Xoplaki > Institute of Geography, Climatology and Meteorology > Hallerstrasse 12 > CH-3012 Bern > Switzerland > > Contact person email: > juerg@giub.unibe.ch > > Country: > Istanbul, Turkey > > Date(s): > End of August 2008 > > Type: > international, research, education, new activity setup > > Number of participants: > We anticipate approximately 40-60 people will attend the workshop. > > Topic: > Extreme Climate Events of the past 1000-2000 years > Impacts on Cultural History in the greater Mediterranean > Paleo droughts and heatwaves > > Timescales covered: > last 1000-2000 years > > Overview: > We propose to bring together anthropologists, historians, and paleo- > climatologists and archaeologists to examine the available data > from well-dated prehistoric/historic cultures and paleo- > environmental records in the Greater Mediterranean Region (GMR), > with a view toward actively involving researchers from the Balkans, > Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Northern Africa. In particular, we will > consider impacts of large climatic anomalies of the past 1000 to > 2000 years, and promoting more involvement from experts outside the > climate community. The objective will be to identify accurately the > timing of sustained, severe climatic conditions, e.g., prolonged > drought and other extremes, over the past 1000–2000 years. We hope > to convene an interdisciplinary workshop to consider how > documentary and paleo-records can assist in the interpretation of > some important events in the history of the GMR. The workshop will > extend the results of the recent MEDCLIVAR-sponsored workshop on > Reconstruction > of Past Mediterranean Climate by following up on its > recommendations to extend the analysis of climate proxy records > while bringing in aspects related to climate impacts as derived > from historical and archaeological records. > We propose to convene an interdisciplinary workshop of > climatologists, paleo-climatologists, anthropologists, > archaeologists, and historians working in the GMR to address the > following topics in our workshop programme: > > • Explore means to incorporate high-resolution paleo-records to > define periods of persistent drought and floods that could be > independently or by means of teleconnections related to large-scale > modes of variability such as NAO/AMO, PDO/ENSO, etc. for as long as > the proxy records permit this research. > > • Highlight the impact of some of the great historical climatic > episodes (case studies), such as the Great El Niño events in the > 1790s and 1877–78 that led to multi-year monsoon failures in India > with great loss of life. Is there any evidence also from the > southeastern Mediterranean area? > > • Examine some specific historical and cultural shifts in light of > extreme annual, decadal, and multi-decadal climatic regimes— > droughts, pluvials, extended cold or warm periods in the GMR, with > the highest dating accuracy and precision possible. Evaluate the > imprint of these drought events in multiple historical and > paleoclimate proxies. > > • Examine the large multi-decadal to centennial climate shift that > took place in the context of the transition from the Medieval > Climatic Anomaly (~ 900–1300 AD) to the Little Ice Age (~1300–1850 > AD). > > > Relevance to PAGES research areas: > The workshop aims at the understanding of the Greater > Mediterraneans past environment covering the last 1000 to 2000 > years, addressing paleo and current drought conditions and other > extreme events. This is crucial as with increasing human influence > on climate this area will suffor from dry conditions in all seasons > as well as an increase in warmer conditions with socio, economic > and political impacts. It is an international and interdisciplinary > conference where we involve scientists different countries from the > area as well as experts from central Europe and the US working in > the paleo-community. The workshop includes the physical climate > system, ecosystem processes, and human dimensions, covering the > last 1000 to 2000 years, topics that are of relevance for PAGES. > > > Speakers/participants: > Unal Akkemik, Istanbul University-forest sciences, Turkey (contacted) > Caspar Amman (NCAR, Boulder, CO), USA (contacted) > Ray Bradley, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA (contacted) > Henry F. Diaz, NOAA/ESRL, Boulder, USA (confirmed) > Ricardo García Herrera, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain > (confirmed) > Ercan Kahya, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey > (confirmed) > Christian Pfister (University of Bern), Switzerland (contacted) > Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA (contacted) > Christos Zerefos, University and Academy of Athens, Greece (contacted) > Dominik Fleitmann, University of Bern, Switzerland (contacted) > plus a few other scientists from the Middle East and northern > Africa to be determined soon. > > > Amount requested: > 9000.- > > Planned use of PAGES funds: > Travel, meals, lodging, more details are not yet availalbe as > details will be discussed among the steering commitee within this > year. We are happy to provide you more information later on > > Other pending or secured funding: > European sciene foundation (Euro 6000.-) (secured) > Turkish government (Euro 10000.-) (pending) > > Planned products: > Expected outcomes or products from this work include: 1) explicit > recommendations for development of methodologies that would promote > the interactive use of paleoclimate and cultural/archaeological > information in interpreting significant cultural changes in the > Greater Mediterranean Region that thought to be associated with > environmental changes; 2) a summary and dissemination of workshop > proceedings; 3) the development of future collaborative research > projects; and possibly 4) a special issue of an interdisciplinary > journal or a book volume containing key contributions from among > the participants. > > Website: > null > > Name of potential PAGES SSC liaison: > Thorsten Kiefer ----- Ende der weitergeleiteten Nachricht ----- ------------------------------------------------------ This mail was sent through IMP at http://mail.unibe.ch