Leading Climate Change Expert Answers Your Questions
(Second season of climate webchats kicks off September 15) (504)
Washington - How do we know that the rise in greenhouse gases is changing our climate? What role does human activity play? How will climate change alter life on Earth?
Few people do a better job answering these questions than University of California professor David Lea, the first speaker in the U.S. Department of State's climate change webchats. It's the second season we host these programs to build a dialogue and spread knowledge about an issue that affects people worldwide.
Dr. Lea is a professor in the Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute at the University of California-Santa Barbara and an expert in the scientific and societal issues of climate change. This year, he's on assignment in Washington, working as a Jefferson Fellow at the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
Together with students and participants from around the world, Lea will explore the basic science behind rising global temperatures.
The first program in the online series, held at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT) on September 15, is titled "Understanding Climate Change."
If you'd like to participate, please go to https://statedept.connectsolutions.com/climatechange. No registration is needed. Simply choose "Enter as a Guest," type in your preferred screen name and join the discussion. We accept questions and comments in advance of, and at any time during, the program.
Ecosystems, industry, society and human health are already affected by climate change. Individuals can take actions to help slow this crisis - and many already are.
In this series of webchats we'll focus on the innovations and creative ideas people are using to shrink their carbon footprint and help others do the same. The programs will run until mid-November.
The online conversations will allow people on every continent to interact with climate change experts from the U.S. government, the nonprofit sector and other organizations in the United States and beyond.
Lea earned his doctoral degree in oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. He's a climate change and ocean carbon cycle expert; specializing in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography and marine geochemistry.
As a Jefferson Science Fellow, Lea is helping the State Department formulate a scientifically and environmentally sound foreign policy that meets the needs of modern societies.
We hope you'll also make it to one of our upcoming webchats! All start at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT) the day of the program (8 a.m. EST, 13:00 GMT after November 7).
"Individual Action, Global Impact"
Date: Wednesday, September 29
Speaker: Ranjeetsing Walunjpatil, co-founder of The Sapling Project
"Can We Slow Down Climate Change?"
Date: Wednesday, October 13
Speaker: Rick Duke, deputy assistant secretary for climate policy, U.S. Department of Energy
"Adapting to a Changing Climate"
Date: Wednesday, October 27
Speaker: Jennifer Kurz, outreach director for U.S. Climate Action Network
"COP 16: Collaborating on Climate Change"
Date: Wednesday, November 10
Speaker: Jonathan Pershing, deputy special envoy for climate change, U.S. Department of State
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
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