Climate Change Lecture Series
The "Science in the Mountains" climate change lecture series aims to expose local residents and area visitors to recognized experts in the field, allowing direct contact with active scientists. Our goals for the series include advancing public knowledge of issues related to climate change, especially as it pertains to the greater Mount Washington region; making the science of climate change better understood on an objective basis; and encouraging greater public interest in science.
Admission to each lecture program is free and refreshments will be served. Programs begin at 7:00 PM, followed by a question and answer period. The Series is being held at Mount Washington Observatory's Weather Discovery Center, Route 16, North Conway Village, New Hampshire.
Wednesday, July 18
Climate Change in the Northeast; Past, Present, and Future
with Cameron Wake - Research Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Wake will focus on climate change in our backyard, looking at the record of climate change in the Northeast, especially in northern New England. Dr. Wake will discuss the large-scale background to climate change, and also the small details of the landscape, ecology, and economy of our region that are destined for transition in the coming years.
Cameron Wake studies regional climate and environmental change through the analysis of ice cores and instrumental records. Currently he is leading research programs to reconstruct climate change from ice cores recovered from glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Canadian Arctic. Wake is also involved in the AIRMAP project, which seeks to improve understanding of New England's changing climate and air quality. He leads the related INHALE project that is investigating the links between air quality and human health in New England. As part of the Northeast Climate Impact Assessment , he was co-lead on two research papers and a series of reports detailing past and future climate change in the US Northeast.
Dr. Wake teaches several classes at UNH including Global Environmental Change, Earth System Science, and Climate and Health. He also led a team that produced a Design Guide for Earth System Science Education that summarizes the lessons learned from 15 years of NASA supported education programs. He serves on the UNH Energy Task Force, is a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Research, and is Chair of the Undergraduate Research Conference Planning Committee. He also serves as chief scientific advisor for Clean-Air-Cool Planet, a not-for-profit organization finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
Dr. Wake received a B.Sc. in Geology (1984) from the University of Ottawa, an M.A. in Geography (1987) from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Ph.D. in Geochemical Systems (1993) from the University of New Hampshire.
Wednesday, July 25
Climate Change Impacts on Gardens, Farms, and Global Food Supply
with David Wolfe - Professor Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
We know that the climate in the Northeast is changing, not only based on what the thermometers are telling us, but also based on observations of plants and other living things responding to the change (e.g., earlier bloom dates; bigger spring populations of marginally over-wintering insect pests). Longer growing seasons and shifts in plant hardiness zones will allow experimentation with new species in our gardens, urban landscapes, and farms, but we may forever lose some favorites. Warmer and more variable winters could lead to premature bloom or inadequate winter chilling hours for some perennial fruit crops, maple trees, flowering bulbs, and other plant species. Invasive insect, disease and weed pests are likely to benefit most from climate change, leading to increased pesticide and herbicide use. With predictions of an increase in the frequency of both heavy rainfall events and short-term droughts, both good drainage and irrigation will be more essential. Milk production by dairy cows will be reduced by increased frequency of summer heat stress unless farmers adapt by improving cooling capacity of livestock facilities. Some farmers may lack capital or reliable information needed for strategic adaptations. Various adaptation and mitigation strategies will be discussed, such as the importance of improving nitrogen fertilizer management of our lawns, gardens, and farms. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are energy-intensive to produce, and also release nitrous oxides (a potent greenhouse gas) as they degrade in the soil. We will also discuss climate change impacts on global food supply, and implications this could have for our own food and national security.
David W. Wolfe is Professor of Plant Ecology in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University. He is a member of Cornell's Biogeochemistry Program, and is on the advisory boards for the NY Water Resources Institute, Cornell Plantations, and the NY Department of Environmental Conservation Climate Change Planning Committee. He is a leading authority on the effects of climate change and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants, soils, and ecosystems, with many peer-reviewed research publications and several book chapter reviews on the subject. He is the author of an award-winning popular science book on soil ecology, Tales From the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life, published in 2002. His recent research documenting earlier spring bloom date of lilacs, apples, and grapes in the Northeast received national media attention. Dr. Wolfe is currently working with a team of scientists in the Northeast on a regional climate change impacts assessment available at: www.climatechoices.org, and he led the development of a new website with resource materials for gardeners, farmers and agricultural educators available at: www.climateandfarming.org.
Wednesday, August 1
Climate Change Politics and Policies: Action from Global to Local
with Stacy VanDeveer - Associate Professor of Political Science, University of New Hampshire.
Any discussion of current climate change has to involve the issue of greenhouse gas emissions, and quickly delves into not just science, but the policies and politics of this subject. Dr. VanDeveer will consider this important area where environmental science and citizen decision making must meet at various levels of governance.
Stacy D. VanDeveer's research interests include international environmental policymaking and its domestic impacts, the connections between environmental and security issues, and the role expertise in policy making. He spent two years as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government after getting his Ph.D from the University of Maryland. He has received research funding from the (US) National Science Foundation, the Embassy of Canada, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA), among others. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles, book chapters, working papers and reports and two co-edited books. During the 2006-2007 academic year, he is a Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. He remains Co-Director of the MA program in Political Science at UNH.
Wednesday, August 8
The Economic Costs and Opportunities of Dealing with Climate Change
with Ken Colburn, of Symbiotic Strategies, Meredith, New Hampshire
Ken Colburn's presentation will touch on a number of subjects: a brief overview of the current state of climate science, a consideration of why some why states across the country are acting on climate change (their motivations include economic opportunity associated with energy efficiency and improvement), what actions states are planning and undertaking in responding to climate change, what the economics of these plans and activities indicate, how climate politics are shifting, and a consideration of impacts and opportunities associated specifically with the Granite State.
Before starting Symbiotic Strategies to consult independently on policy issues associated with air quality, climate change, energy, and the intersection of economic and environmental opportunity, Ken Colburn served as Executive Director of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) from 2002-2005. Previously, he led the Air Resources Division of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), helping to make that state a leader in reducing air pollution with the nation's first .4-pollutant. legislation for power plants and the first greenhouse gas emissions reduction registry law. Mr. Colburn represented U.S. states at most of the annual UNFCCC meetings, including Kyoto in 1997. Prior to joining NHDES in 1995, he was Vice President of Energy and Environmental Policy at the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire (BIA), representing the state's business community on environmental, energy, and telecommunications matters in legislative and regulatory forums. He holds a B.S. in mathematics from M.I.T. and M.B.A. and M.Ed. Degrees from the University of New Hampshire.
Wednesday, August 15
Effects of Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems
with Louis Iverson - Research Landscape Ecologist, USDA Forest Service, Delaware, OH
Dr. Iverson will discuss the potential effects of climate change on the forests of the eastern and northeastern US. He and his colleagues have modeled 134 tree species and 150 bird species and how their suitable habitat may change under low and high emissions scenarios.
Dr. Louis R. Iverson received his BS (1976) and PhD (1981) degrees from the University of North Dakota, then studied as a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar at the University of York, England. He then worked for the Illinois Natural History Survey and the University of Illinois and began his Forest Service career in 1992 as a research landscape ecologist. He has over 130 publications in various aspects of landscape ecology, forest ecology, and restoration ecology. His current interests are modeling climate change impacts on trees and birds of the eastern U.S. (focus of this talk), modeling the spread of the emerald ash borer which is killing millions of ash trees in the Midwest, using prescribed fire and thinning to restore oak communities in Ohio, and using GIS and remote sensing in projects ranging from modeling forest-site productivity over large regions to modeling damage from the tsunami in Aceh Province, Indonesia following the tsunami of December 2004.
Wednesday, August 22
Arctic Climate Change: Is it Accelerating?
with James McCarthy - Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University
The Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change anywhere on Earth. Absent new policies to restrict emissions of greenhouse gases, climate change is projected to accelerate during this century. Might this already be happening in the Arctic? Changes in temperature and precipitation patters have the potential to cause significant physical, ecological, social, and economic changes within the Arctic region, some of which are already evident. Changes in Arctic climate will also affect the climate of adjacent temperate regions and, through the Arctic region's contribution to sea level rise, coastal regions around the world.
James J. McCarthy is Harvard's Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography, and former director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He teaches courses in ocean and climate science and oversees Harvard's program in Environmental Science and Public Policy. His research interests relate to marine plankton, biogeochemical cycles and climate. He received his undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University and his doctorate from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He has served on and led many national and international groups charged with planning and implementing studies of global change. In 2001 he headed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II, which had responsibilities for assessing impacts of current and future global climate change. He was also a lead author on the 2005 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is President-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest scientific organization.
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