4 Degrees and Beyond International Climate Conference


The 4 Degrees and Beyond International Climate Conference, subtitled Implications of a Global Climate Change of 4+ Degrees for People, Ecosystems and the Earth-system, was held 28–30 September 2009 at Oxford, United Kingdom. The three-day conference had about 140 science, government, NGO and private sector delegates, and included 35 oral presentations and 18 poster presentations. The conference website includes a page for downloading abstracts, presentations, audio recordings, and the programme. Links to a number of news stories are also provided. The conference was sponsored by the University of Oxford, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and the Met Office Hadley Centre.
Video podcasts of all oral presentations are posted on a University of Oxford website; however, to find videos by presenter names the above cited program must first be consulted to find the presentation title.
In January 2011, eleven papers and three introductory articles resulting from the conference were published as a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Four degrees and beyond: the potential for a global temperature increase of four degrees and its implications. Many of the papers are free downloads. The contents of the special issue are listed later in this article.
In July 2011, a follow-up conference,, was held at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Rationale for the Conference

Participation invitation

2011 Follow up event: ''"Four Degrees Or More? Australia in a Hot World"''

A related, second large conference, Four Degrees Or More? Australia in a Hot World was held on 12–14 July 2011 at the University of Melbourne, Australia. The conference:
As with the earlier conference, multimedia and pdf files of the presentations and keynote addresses are posted on the conference website.
The conference organiser was Dr Peter Christoff. Prof. John Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research was again a keynote speaker, along with Prof. Ross Garnaut. The event was disrupted by anti-environmental protesters.
Presenters: Dr Karl Braganza, Prof. Jon Barnett, Assoc. Prof. Peter Christoff, Prof. Robyn Eckersley, Prof. Ross Garnaut, Prof. David Griggs, Andrew Hewett, Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Dr Mark Howden, Prof. Lesley Hughes, Prof. David Karoly, Prof. Jan Mcdonald, Assoc. Prof. Phil Mcmanus, Prof. Tony McMichael, Prof. Malte Meinshausen, Prof. Jean Palutikof, Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Anna Skarbek, Prof. Will Steffen, and Dr Penny Whetton.