Public Lectures

Most of the CO2 released when we burn coal, oil or gas is eventually absorbed by the oceans, where it reacts with seawater leading to acidification. Ocean acidification has been shown to harm many marine organisms, including corals, under controlled laboratory conditions.

This talk will describe how Dr. Calderia's team altered seawater chemistry in a natural ecosystem without any artificial confinement, for the first time ever, and measured the biological response in order to better understand ocean acidification and its impacts on corals.

Dr. Caldiera will describe the effects of ocean acidification on corals, his team's research in the great barrier reef, and the need for energy technologies that provide for human systems while protecting the natural environment.

Cynthia Rosenzweig presents a Walter Orr Roberts Memorial Public Lecture titled, "Climate Change Challenges to Agriculture, Food Security, and Health." In this talk she will talk about how agriculture is being called upon to ensure both human and planetary health as changes in earth's climate affect food security and ecosystem services at both global and regional scales.

This talk is about how developing high-resolution projections can help real people, from wine growers in California to water managers in Texas, prepare for a changing climate.

This talk focuses on the distinctive responsibilities of the major investor-owned producers of fossil fuels, describing new science on the scale of their contribution to the problem; the actions companies took and could have taken in response to the scientific evidence of climate change; and the evidence that civil society actions to hold companies accountable may be need to hasten our transition to a safe climate future.

This talk gives an overview of the challenging field of the decadal climate prediction and the future direction that the global scientific community is pursuing.

Climate change, once a taboo topic, is now challenging the way water utilities plan for the future. Observed warming and climate model projections now call into question the stability of future water quantity and quality. As water utilities across the country but particularly in the West grapple with preparing for the large range of possible climate change impacts, many are searching for new planning techniques to help them better prepare for a different, more uncertain, future. Several promising new methods are being tested in water utilities planning. This presentation will discuss the need for climate adaptation, describe several promising approaches, and take a look at how different groups are addressing adaptation.