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| Climatologist Andrew Weaver is described as a "colourful and outspoken academic." He is the author of Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World. |
An upswing in ocean acidity. Damaged coral reefs. Rising sea temperatures and the melting ice cap.
鈥淥ceans and Climate Change鈥� is the theme of this year鈥檚 Killam Public Lecture Series. The series kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 1 with a lecture by Andrew Weaver entitled 鈥淕lobal Warming: The Scale of the Problem and the Path to the Solution.鈥�
鈥淐limate change affects all of us,鈥� says Katja Fennel, assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography and an organizer of the Killam series. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 say we鈥檙e not interested in this.鈥�
Dr. Weaver is the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modeling and Analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria. He is a leading authority on global climate change, acting as the lead author on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Along with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and his international partners, the distinguished scientist was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his work with the IPCC in 2007. He is also the author of Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World, a comprehensive and engaging examination and explanation of global warming, with a specific emphasis on climate change in Canada.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a pretty famous climate scientist and we鈥檙e very lucky to have him,鈥� says Dr. Fennel. 鈥淚 believe he鈥檒l cover potential ways we can correct global climate change, so it鈥檚 a good way to open the whole topic up.鈥�
Dr. Weaver鈥檚 talk is sponsored jointly by the Ransom Myers Lecture in Sciences and Society. Ransom Myers, a well-known fisheries scientist and advocate for marine conservation who taught and conducted research at 麻豆传媒, passed away in March of 2007. The lecture series has been organized in his honour.
鈥淭his is our second annual lecture dedicated to Dr. Myers,鈥� says Boris Worm, now the head of the former Myers Marine Biology Lab at 麻豆传媒. 鈥淚t just so happened that the Killam lecture series was interested in the same person, Dr. Weaver, so we decided to come together and put on a nice event.鈥�
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Dr. Worm says the late Dr. Myers would have appreciated Dr. Weaver鈥檚 work. 鈥淗e would be very excited to meet him and to learn from him 鈥� I can just see his excitement about this.鈥�
Dr. Myers, like Dr. Weaver, had an interest in how science affects society and what individuals can do to make a difference. 鈥淗e was always very interested in witnessing how society deals with science, environmental challenges in particular, and how we are able to identify a problem and deal with it,鈥� says Dr. Worm.
The lecture will take place on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain building. Students and faculty are encouraged to attend.
Other lectures in the Killam series are: 鈥淭he Warming Arctic Ocean鈥� by Louis Fortier, professor at Universit茅 Laval, on Nov. 26 and 鈥淥cean Acidification鈥� by Victoria Fabry, California State University, on Dec. 3. Both lectures take place at 7 p.m. in Ondaatje Hall.
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