Speakers: Peter Raven (Missouri Botanical Garden), John Holdren (Woods Hole Research Center), Rosina Bierbaum (University of Michigan), Richard Moss (UN Foundation), Michael MacCracken (The Climate Institute)Presented by Sigma Xi, the UN Foundation, and the New York Academy of SciencesReported by Alan Dove | Posted March 6, 2007
Overview
On February 27, 2007, the New York Academy of Sciences hosted an event to honor the launch of a scientific report titled Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable, Managing the Unavoidable. The report was written by an expert panel organized by Sigma Xi, the scientific honor society, and sponsored by the UN Foundation.
The authors concluded that allowing the global average surface temperature to rise more than 2°C to 2.5°C over the next 100 years would sharply increase the risk of catastrophic events. Greenhouse gases now in the atmosphere have already committed the planet to a rise of about 1.5°C. Climate change will lead to major crop failures, more extreme weather events, and make environmental refugees of tens of millions.
They asserted that responding to climate change requires intelligent policymaking and sustained investment in appropriate technology, both of which could help avert disasters resulting from climate change while simultaneously boosting living standards worldwide.
Sponsorship
This conference and eBriefing were made possible with support from:
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