Dr. Kerry Emanuel Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT to Speak in Wayland: “A Sober Look – At the Global Warming Problem”
Join us for a discussion with Dr. Kerry Emanuel, as he addresses the Walden Forum at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 19, 2012. The Walden Forum is held at the First Parish Meeting House, at the intersection of Routes 20 and 27 in Wayland, Mass.
Dr. Emanuel will discuss his book “What We Know about Climate Change.” What are the risks and possible benefits of climate change? How much of it is man–made and how much is natural? Will we be in for more intense hurricanes? How will society cope with increased incidence of drought and floods, and will there be a problem with climate refugees? Has the American public been misinformed by a media obsessed with sensational debate?
Dr. Emanuel has not been particularly outspoken on the climate change issue but has from time to time participated in debates and forums that have provided him with an opportunity to offer his opinion, especially after Huricane Katrina. Dr. Emanuel writes: “Contemporary discussions of the phenomenon of global warming are now so heated that one wonders whether they are contributing to the phenomenon itself. With all the interest in alleged misdeeds of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and hacked email exchanges among climate scientists, it is easy to lose track of the compelling strands of scientific evidence that have led almost all climate scientists to conclude that mankind is altering climate in potentially dangerous ways. Recent suggestions by politicians that the scientific community is split on this issue have unfortunately added fuel to this largely manufactured debate.”
“There is much ripe fruit to hurl in the increasingly heated climate wars of our generation,” says Dr. Emanuel. This is all too evident as the all-encompassing climate deal trying to be reached in Durban South Africa, which “may be beyond our reach for now,” says U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. It seems China and India delivered a setback to the European plan to negotiate a new treaty that would bind all participating countries to their pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.
But when the dust settles, Dr. Emanuel says, what we are left with is the evidence. And, in spite of all the scientific studies, complexity and uncertainties, we should not lose track of the simple fact that theory, actual observations of the planet, and complex models – however imperfect each is in isolation – all point to ongoing, potentially dangerous human alteration of climate.
Kerry Emanuel, Ph.D. is the Cecil and Ida Green professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been on the faculty since 1981, after spending three years on the faculty of UCLA. Professor Emanuel’s research interests focus on tropical meteorology and climate, with a specialty in hurricane physics. His interests also include cumulus convection, and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction. He is the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and two books, including Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes, recently released by Oxford University Press and aimed at a general audience, and What We Know about Climate Change, published by the MIT Press. He earned a Ph.D. in Meteorology and an S.B. in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is now Professor and Director of the Program for Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About the Walden Forum
The Walden Forum is a free public series that brings people together to talk, listen and learn from one another in a civil environment. It fosters discussion about important ethical, religious, political, scientific, social and other topics in a live-forum setting. Dynamic speakers challenge and expand our views about the world around us and offer the opportunity for an open discussion of these issues in a convenient, local setting. Featuring world-class speakers on great topics throughout the year, the Walden Forum is a non-religious community program supported by First Parish in Wayland and others, and held at the historic 1815 First Parish Meetinghouse at the intersection of Routes 20 and 27 in Wayland Center. For more information go to www.waldenforum.org or write to info@waldenforum.org.
