American Meteorological Society 2009 Annual Meeting

Media advisory

The American Meteorological Society's 89th Annual Meeting will be held January 10-15, 2009, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix. More than 2,500 of the world's leading atmospheric scientists will gather to discuss a broad range of weather and climate-related issues. The 2009 Annual Meeting is being organized around the broad theme of "Urban Weather and Climate: Now and the Future."

The relevance and timeliness of the urban theme cannot be overemphasized. Recent events—Hurricane Katrina; urban floods in Europe and China; heat waves in London, Paris, and Chicago; homeland security concerns; and industrial chemical accidents; to name a few—point out the vulnerability of urban populations to high-impact weather of all types.

In the United States today, approximately two-thirds of the population live in cities that occupy less than 2% of the U.S. landmass. This past year, the global population may have reached a tipping point, with the world's urban population equaling its rural population; by 2030, the urban population fraction is predicted to surpass 60% globally and exceed 82% in the more developed countries. Most of the urban population growth results from migration from the rural areas as birth rates tend to decline in the urban areas. The nexus of urbanization and population growth, coupled with anthropogenic urban weather influences and global climate changes, portend an impending "perfect storm" for the urban environment.

The AMS Meeting is the place to learn about the latest research on climate change, space weather, numerical modeling, last year's weather events, artificial intelligence and much more. To date more than 1700 abstracts have been submitted and posted online.

Scientific sessions begin on Monday, January 12 and continue for 4 days. A Student Conference and several other special events start on Saturday, January 11. The exhibit hall, featuring more than 100 companies demonstrating the latest products and services for this field, will open January 12 at 5:30 p.m. The program and press registration is now online at http://www.ametsoc.org/MEET/annual/newsroom.html

Media are invited to join the AMS Summer Policy Colloquium alumni for a Sunday afternoon tour to three destinations exploring the past, the present, and the future in resiliency and sustainability in an arid climate. The group will be visiting the Hohokam desert and people to learn about the Hohokam canal system, which served as the blueprint for today's canal system; the Agua Fria Recharge Project (AFRP), a direct recharge project located near the City of Peoria in Maricopa County and the only recharge project in Arizona to combine streambed recharge and infiltration basins at a single facility; and the Decision Theater, an interactive 3D immersive environment built with cutting edge graphics technologies that allows individuals to see a detailed 3D representation of the consequences of behavior, decisions and policy in order to examine potential future scenarios in new and exciting ways. There is no cost to take part in this field trip but you must register by December 12 by contacting Stephanie Kenitzer directly. For details see http://www.ametsoc.org/atmospolicy/AlumniEvents.html

The complete list of all the planned sessions and most abstracts is available on the AMS web site at http://www.ametsoc.org/MEET/annual/programsandevents.html

Note, you will have to review each conference or symposia based on your interest or you can search the site for specific abstracts, authors and institutions, and key words. Master copies of the abstracts on CD ROM will be available in the press room at the meeting.

Press briefings are still being planned and finalized. A complete schedule will be announced in late-December. In addition, media are encouraged to attend sessions of interest to them and interview experts throughout the meeting. Contact Stephanie Kenitzer in the AMS Press Room for specific experts. The AMS will issue press releases throughout the meeting. If you would like to receive those, contact Stephanie Kenitzer at kenitzer@dc.ametsoc.org

The AMS will operate a press room from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday. The press room is located in Room 222 of the Convention Center. The room will be equipped with telephones, a fax machine, copier and computers with Internet access.

Press releases relevant to the meeting will be available in the press room and on the AMS web site. A briefing room for interviews will also be available. Further advisories will be outline planned press briefings and special media events. The press room web site is http://www.ametsoc.org/meet/annual/newsroom.html

Official media representatives and public information officers are encouraged to register in advance using the form provided on the AMS web site. The direct link is http://www.ametsoc.org/MEET/annual/newsroom.html

Press registration includes a press badge that allows access to all conferences, special programs and exhibits. Eligibility for press registration is limited to the working press and freelance science writers with appropriate identification, public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions and government agencies. A banquet ticket is not included and can be purchased at the meeting.

Hotels in the area are quickly filling up. For a complete list of area hotels see http://www.ametsoc.org/MEET/annual/hotel.html Reservations will be made on a first-come, first-served basis and should be made directly with the hotel of choice. Be sure to indicate that you are with the American Meteorological Society when making reservations to receive our special rates.

The American Meteorological Society is the nation's premier scientific society for those involved in the atmospheric and related sciences. For more information see www.ametsoc.org