Dr. Shugart provides insight into how the Earth's carbon cycle works and into what still remains unknown about this essential Earth life support system. He discusses the unique importance of Russian forests in the global carbon cycle and presented the unexpected results indicating that climate change might alter the Russian forests in ways that may promote further warming. Dr. Shugart concludes by making the surprising point that Russian compliance with the Kyoto Protocol (by re-growing forests) might, in fact, produce further warming, combating the intent of the protocol.

There is a glimmer of hope that the living systems on Earth may be able to mitigate the effects of a changing climate. In this public lecture, Dr. Peter Cox, science director for climate change at the Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research, addresses this subject. Cox discusses the complex interactions between the physical and biological elements of the Earth system, and how a brand new type of computer models called "Earth System Models" are being used to more accurately predict future climate change by taking into account these dynamic interactions. 

Temperature observations during the 20th century reveal a warming trend unlike any other in many millennia. As one of the preeminent scientists looking for an explanation of this phenomena, Princeton University professor V. Ramaswamy provides an overview of existing climate models and explains in an accessible manner how various natural and anthropogenic variables potentially bring about climate change. Through his summary of available research, Ramaswamy argues that human-induced variables, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, appear to be primarily responsible for the warming trend of the 20th century.

The realization that society's reliance on fossil fuels is resulting in alarming changes to the Earth's climate is forcing people to evaluate a host of issues concerning energy consumption and its effect on the environment. This public event addresses these issues and endeavors to educate concerned citizens about the challenges that lie ahead. In the first half, David Keith, an expert on energy and professor at Carnegie Mellon University, describes the world's current consumption of fossil fuels and suggests future options for energy that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Keith presents the surprising idea that fossil fuel consumption can continue without its harmful side effects provided energy companies pursue carbon sequestration technologies, which Keith argues are both possible and practical. In the second half, Stanford University professor Steve Schneider talks about the challenging policy dilemmas presented by climate change in both the developed and developing world. As a possible model for pursuing environment-friendly policies, Schneider offers the case of Bhutan, a developing country that has favored environmental and cultural production over the material benefits of Western-style industrialization. This event is part of the Walter Orr Roberts Public Lecture Series. Recorded on July 25, 2000 in Aspen, Colorado.

Concentrations of stratospheric ozone have decreased significantly over the last two decades, resulting in detrimental impacts on humanity and the biosphere. In this presentation, Dr. Donald Wuebbles, professor at the University of Illinois, discusses the expectations for future levels of ozone, the attempts to prevent further effects on ozone, and the concerns that remain for ozone recovery.

Following the Earth Summit (aka "Rio") in 1992, the task became to develop agreements on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions across the globe. One of the great challenges was, and still is, to address developing nation such as China that are ever growing emitters of greenhouse gasses. In this video, Dr. Thomas Heller discusses some of the major issues involved with international environmental law and how they relate to China.

About 20 stations have been established along the coastline of Antarctica, but only two are maintained year-round on the interior plateau: the Russian station at Vostok and the U.S. station at South Pole. In this entertaining and informative slideshow, Antarctic researcher Stephen Warren vividly illustrates the logistics of living at the South Pole. In addition, Dr. Warren discusses the results of the scientific research that brought him to the coldest place on Earth.

The twentieth century brought about sweeping environmental, economic, social, and political change. Each type of change was itself substantial, but collectively these changes collaborated to produce unprecedented impacts on the Earth and the human way of life. In this lecture, Nay Htun, Deputy Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, addresses these changes and places them in the context of global environmental change. Dr. Htun describes the forces negatively affecting the global environment and talks about possible solutions to these impacts.

We are now in an unprecedented age where humans have become a force of global importance and where local human behavior has significant global impacts. In light of this new world order, Dr. Richard Rockwell of the University of Michigan addresses the issue of identifying and mitigating the negative impacts of human activity on the environment. These impacts, which Dr. Rockwell describes as large and growing, are and will continue to affect every individual, regardless of whether they directly contribute to the impacts or not.

Climate change gets the lion's share of media attention, but it is not the most certain, not the least reversible, and not the most significant (to date) of human-caused changes to the earth system. This talk , given by Stanford professor Dr. Peter Vitousek, examines the major components of human effects on Earth, with emphasis on the changing composition of the atmosphere, the transformation of Earth's surface by human activity, and the loss of biological diversity.

Dr. Richard Somerville speaks on how a sustainable future depends on scientific research, a global energy policy, and the political will that humanity applies to deal with the major issues of our times, including the goal of a stable world population.

Dr. Kenneth Strzepek of the University of Colorado provides an introduction to the "Greenhouse Effect" and its effects on the global water cycle. The talk focuses on the impacts of climate change on regional and local water supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin, which includes the Roaring Fork Valley. The lecture also includes a look at the impacts of climate change on society.

Viewing Earth from space provides a much-needed platform for understanding global change issues. As a former astronaut logging 1600 space flight hours, Jack Lousma is well-equiped to describe the process of space travel and the benefits of viewing Earth from space. In this lecture, Lousma recounts his experience as an astronaut and the lessons about Earth he has learned.