The New York Academy of Sciences
How Climate Change Impacts Environmental Ecosystems

Posted September 21, 2020
Presented By
Climate change has had catastrophic effects on ecosystems throughout the world and has created long lasting and potentially irreversible damage. In this eBriefing, experts discuss how rising temperatures have increased the number and intensity of forest fires and expedited global ice sheet melting.
In this eBriefing, You’ll Learn:
- How climate change can cause an increase in droughts and forest fires while also accelerating ice sheet melting and sea level rise;
- How climate change affects tree physiology, which may contribute to droughts and forest fires;
- The latest technological advances in measuring climate change impact on ice sheet melting and sea level rise
- Potential solutions to improve forest health and reduce forest fire damage
- The public’s changing views on climate change, scientific trust, and environmental racism.
Speakers
Eric Rignot, PhD
University of California, Irvine
Eric Rignot, PhD, combines satellite remote sensing, geophysical surveys, and numerical modeling to understand the impact of climate change on ice sheets and its repercussions on global sea levels. Dr. Rignot is a Donald Bren Professor at University of California, Irvine, a Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received his Engineer Degree at Ecole Centrale Paris and PhD at University of Southern California. He joined University of California, Irvine in 2007.
William Anderegg, PhD
The University of Utah
William Anderegg, PhD, centers his research around the intersection of ecosystems and climate change. In particular, his research focuses on how drought and climate change affect forest ecosystems, including tree physiology, species interactions, carbon cycling, and biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. He received his BA and PhD at Stanford University and his postdoc at Princeton University. He joined the University of Utah in 2016.