UMaine to Host Two-Day Climate Change Conference Next Month
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Increasingly severe hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere, retreating glaciers in Greenland and habitat changes that threaten Arctic polar bears are just three examples of the impact of our changing climate. A unique and groundbreaking University of Maine conference, scheduled for Orono Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23-24, will include perspectives on the most current scientific thinking in this field, adaptation strategies and Maine’s environmental future.
Climate Change 21: Choices for the 21st Century is scheduled for 8 a.m.-5 p.m. each day in UMaine’s Wells Conference Center. Conference sessions are designed to be interactive, with those attending the forum having opportunities to ask questions and share their perspectives with the experts. Another feature will be a two-day environmental fair, outdoors on the UMaine Mall, with exhibits from student organizations, businesses and community organizations that work in areas related to the environment.
One conference highlight will be Friday participation by CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley. Pelley regularly files “60 Minutes” reports on issues related to the environment and he has twice interviewed UMaine Prof. Paul Mayewski, director of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute and the conference’s lead organizer, for segments on climate change.
Mayewski, one of the world’s leading experts on climate change, has traversed more of the Antarctic ice sheet than any other person. Over the past 40 years, he has led some 50 climate science expeditions in Antarctica, Greenland, the Arctic, South America and Asia.
“By the beginning of the next century, we expect that Maine’s average temperature will increase by several degrees. It will be wetter, with less snow and there will be more storms,” Mayewski says. “It is reasonable to expect a climate similar to West Virginia’s, but with more unsettled weather, by 2100. That means a significantly different way of life for Maine citizens, and the time is now to begin planning for a future when the environment will certainly be very different.
“A primary theme of this conference will be adaptation, mitigation and opportunity.”
The conference builds on UMaine’s decades-long excellence in climate change research, and the state’s historic leadership role in environmental stewardship and conservation.
In addition to Mayewski, UMaine professors George Denton, Kirk Maasch, Stephen Norton, Larry Mayer, Habib Dagher, Robert Kates, Ivan Fernandez and George Jacobson will make scientific presentations at the conference. Denton and Kates are members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Fernandez and Jacobson are leading a UMaine effort, requested by Gov. John Baldacci, to create a definitive assessment of the state’s current climate and environmental future.
Baldacci will address the conference on Friday morning.
The forum will include participation from UMaine faculty members across a broad academic spectrum, including policy studies, science and engineering. In addition, a Friday afternoon (4 p.m.) session, “Expressions of Climate Change,” will include a musical performance by Prof. Beth Wiemann and the Athena Chorus along with _the unveiling of a sculpture by UMaine Prof. Kerstin Engman. Students from UMaine and colleges and universities across the state have also been invited to participate in a poster competition_ related to the conference subject matter.
Paul Epstein, associate director at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, will address “Climate Change: Health Consequences and Healthy Solutions” in a Friday keynote address. Others who will share their insights include Maine Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security Director John Kerry and Kathleen Miller of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. John German, manager of environmental and energy analysis at American Honda Motor Company, will discuss “Vehicle Technologies of the Future” during a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion.
Mayewski says it’s imperative that scientists and citizens accelerate the dialogue regarding human society and the future climate.
“I’m an optimist,” he told UMaine Today Magazine in July. “It will still be warming and climate will still be unstable because of what we’ve done, but I see no reason why we won’t be living primarily on renewable energy. I think we’ll be a lot smarter about recycling. I think we will be healthier. I think we will be able to travel as well as we can now or more easily, but I think we will become more self-subsistent.”
Members of the public are invited to attend the conference, free of charge. For registration information and a full schedule, visit http://www.umaine.edu/conferences/.