Climate Change: Science and Policy

There is no longer any doubt that the climate is changing rapidly.  How is this happening and what impacts will we see?  In our first session, we will explore the mechanisms that are causing the changes to our climate.  We will discuss the differences between climate and weather, and the reasons that "global warming" is not always interchangeable with "climate change."  While the earth is warming as a whole, there will be places that will actually see cooling, and this may be dramatic in the future.  We will also learn why these changes will result in more extreme weather events in many parts of the world.  An updated topic will be the visible impacts of less vehicle emissions in the early months of the COVID 19 pandemic.

In our second session, we will discuss specific case studies of places and activities that will be affected.  We will look at agriculture in the Midwest, the potential disappearance of island nations such as the Maldives, coastal flooding and sea level rise along the southeastern coast of the U.S. and the massive financial risks that our economy will have to endure.  We will talk about droughts and wildfires in the western U.S., as well as predictions for ecosystem impacts if certain goals are not met.  

Our third session will focus on the good news and examine ways that people are making a difference, either with altered activities or new technologies.  We will discuss micro and macro scale behavior changes that can make a difference to our interconnected system.

The final session will focus on the ways in which governments and international organizations are working to address climate change.  We will discuss goals coming out of international meetings, U.N. approaches, declarations of climate emergencies in parts of the E.U., and the growing power of China to be a leader in combating climate change.  We will also discuss the potential impact of President Elect Joe Biden's promise to immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.