Confronting Climate Change Confronting Climate Change Lecture Series Schedules SPRING 2016 This year Wilson College is engaging in a yearlong, campus-wide exploration of climate change, called Confronting Climate Change. Below is an introduction to a sponsored lecture series which is tied to this year’s Orr Forum series on the closely related theme, “The Return of the Apocalyptic.” Climate Change seems to be everywhere and nowhere. Every few weeks a major study seems to come out charting our changing climate, be it the warming oceans, the melting polar icecaps, or the number of super storms, etc. On the off weeks we hear news of some kind of association or some form of political action summoning us to join the fight to reduce carbon emissions. There is a great deal of activity, but as is often the case, the activity — for all its energy — has yet to rise to the necessary level. We need sustained global action to reduce our collective C02 emissions. Indeed, those of us in the world’s most wealthy nation have yet to reach a consensus on how to proceed. As a body politic, we remain divided and distanced from the fight. Given as much, Confronting Climate Change may seem an odd choice. We might as well have titled this blog Denying Climate Change. This is our reality, and yet the reality of climate change is bigger, much bigger, than our politics. The reality is that today, now, humanity is confronting climate change as a contested idea, a reality, and a looming threat. This series is part of campus conversation about how climate change is changing human society and culture. It is an exploration into what it means to live in the shadow of an approaching apocalypse, in an age of superstorms, alarmed and in denial. The Spring Lecture Series for Confronting Climate Change All events are free and open to the public. Discussions will be held in the new Learning Commons of the John Stewart Memorial Library, unless otherwise noted. The Politics of Climate Change and the 2016 Presidential Election Dr. Jill Hummer, Wilson College Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. Whether it is Hillary versus Donald or Bernie versus Marco, the 2016 presidential candidates will be battling over climate change. This presentation examines the role that climate change will play in the 2016 presidential election, from public opinion to party platforms and candidate proposals. The Prospects for Preventing Dangerous Climate Changed After The Paris Accord Dr. Don Brown, Widener University, Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg. March 1 at 11 a.m. This presentation will review the major strengths and weaknesses of the COP21 Paris Accord and then evaluate the potential of this new global framework to prevent dangerous climate change. The presentation will base its conclusions on a recently completed research project between Widener University Commonwealth Law School and the University of Auckland that examined how 23 nations considered or ignored their duty to assure that national climate change commitments were sufficiently ambitious enough to prevent 2 degrees C warming while constituting the nation's fair share of safe globe emissions. Washed Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape Alejandro Duran March 22 at 4:00 PM Washed Up addresses the issue of plastic pollution making its way across the ocean and onto the shores of Sian Ka’an, Mexico’s largest federally-protected reserve. With more than twenty pre-Columbian archaeological sites, this UNESCO World Heritage site is also home to a vast array of flora and fauna and the world’s second largest coastal barrier reef. Unfortunately, Sian Ka’an is also a repository for the world’s trash, which is carried there by ocean currents from many parts of the globe. Animals and the Anthropocene Dr. John Elia, Wilson College April 5 at 11 a.m. Following Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction, I consider the value of indirect arguments for concern about climate change, specifically, in terms of habitat loss, species extinction rates, and our care for animals. Engaging Climate Conflict Dr. Lisa Woolley, Wilson College April 19 at 11 a.m. Do novels offer an imagination space for transcending the polarizing rhetoric of Climate Change? Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior suggests that ecological challenges invite us to better understand ourselves and others. Mitigation of Climate Change: Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Maria Silvia Muylaert de Araujo April 29 at 4 p.m. GHG emissions accelerate despite reduction efforts. Most emission growth is CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes. Without more mitigation, global mean surface temperature might increase by 3.7° to 4.8°C over the 21st century. Delaying mitigation is estimated to increase the difficulty and narrow the options for limiting warming to 2°C. Effective mitigation will not be achieved if individual agents advance their own interests independently. Issues of equity, justice, and fairness arise with respect to mitigation and adaptation. Climate policy may be informed by a consideration of a diverse array of risks and uncertainties, some of which are difficult to measure, notably events that are of low probability but which would have a significant impact if they occur. The Spring Scholars Alejandro Duran was born in Mexico City in 1974 and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He is a multimedia artist working in photography, installation, and video. His work examines the fraught intersections of man and nature, particularly the tension between the natural world and an increasingly overdeveloped one. He received an MA in Teaching from Tufts University in 1999 and an MFA in poetry from the New School for Social Research in 2001. Donald A. Brown is Scholar In Residence and Professor for Sustainability Ethics and Law, Widener University, Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg. At Widener he teaches on international comparative environmental law, climate change law, and human rights law. He is also a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 5th Assessment Report and the author of several books, including his latest, Earthscan: Navigating the Perfect Moral Storm, Climate Ethics (2012). John Elia is Associate Professor and Thérèse Murray Goodwin '49 Chair in Philosophy at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA. His scholarship is focused on moral virtues such as transparency, self-control, resilience, and integrity, with special recent attention to social, cultural, and environmental sustainability. Jill Abraham Hummer is Associate Professor of Political Science at Wilson College. Her research focuses on women and the presidency, and, in particular, American first ladies. Her book First Ladies and American Women is forthcoming. Maria Silvia Muylaert de Araujo is member of the IPCC/Working Group III to the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as Lead Author for Chapter 4 on "Sustainable Development and Equity". Architect (UFRJ-Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). MSc in Urban and Regional Planning (IPPUR/UFRJ). Post-graduation at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. DSc in Energy and Environmental Planning (PPE/COPPE/UFRJ). Member of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change. Member of the Collaborative Program of the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change coordinated by Rock Ethics Institute – Penn State University. Lisa Woolley is professor of English at Wilson College and author of American Voices of the Chicago Renaissance. She teaches environmental approaches to literature. Funded by the Global Citizens Fund, proud sponsor of Confronting Climate Change
