Public Lectures

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.

Our society's vulnerability to extreme weather events will be determined by changes in both the climate -- for example, more frequent and more severe heat waves, heavier precipitation events -- and in society -- for example, how much larger the world population will be and where it will live, how income will be distributed, what fraction of the population will live in urban rather than rural areas.

This talk presented projections of change to climate and population and highlighted how these trends interact to result in potential societal vulnerabilities. Focusing on the example of coastal flood risks, the speakers illustrated how future sea level rise may change the statistics of storm surges along US coasts. They showed how the geographic distribution of US population may change in the coming decades, affecting the numbers of people exposed to risks of flooding. Other examples of the interaction between expected demographic changes and expected changes in climate extremes were discussed, especially in relation to extreme heat events and population concentration.

At this lecture, Dr. Liverman shared perspectives from her time at the Rio+20 meeting as well as her work on planetary boundaries, environmental governance, and sustainable development

At the talk, Dr. O'Brien shared highlights from research that is leading to new ideas about how individuals, organizations, and whole societies can make decisions and change habits that lead to a more sustainable, thrive-able future.