The concept of global climate change is more than most people can process. It’s too big, too tomorrow, too “neighbor’s back yard.” David Bowne, associate professor of biology, brings the notion closer to home as he discusses “The Climate of Your Life: A Personal Approach to Understanding Climate Change,” at noon, Monday, Feb. 23
The discussion takes place over lunch in the Susquehanna Room of Myer Hall as part of the Presidential Community Enrichment lectures. Bowne explores how the climate change is right here, right now, in our own town. Climate has changed enough to notice here in Pennsylvania since we were all children and it will continue to change as future generations inhabit the area.
Humans are more inclined to notice weather but not climate.”
“It’s one of the most important topics facing our planet,” Bowne said in a phone interview. “It’s such a big issue. The planetary scale is overwhelming. It’s too big for humans to appreciate.”
To help us understand, Bowne brings it to a personal level. “We don’t notice global climate,” he said. “Humans are more inclined to notice weather but not climate.” And over our lifetimes, he added, our memories tend to fade. “We romanticize the past.”
To bring the idea closer to home, Bowne uses the story of his grandfather, a man of, what Bowne calls, minor celebrity–a singing cowboy and actor best known for his 1945 hit single “Sioux City Sue.” “The intent is to examine the life of my grandfather; he grew up in Philadelphia,” the professor said of the close-to-home climate exploration. He will showcase how climatic features of Philadelphia have changed. “The climate my grandfather grew up in is different than how my climate is,” he said.
Bowne will also discuss very specific local climate information for various other parts of the world. How those living on a South Pacific Island need to look at the possibility that their home will be underwater.
Bowne will tell stories of the local climate and how it has changed over 50 years or 100 years. “I want to start a conversation, to foster more or deeper thought about climate change for now and future generations … and what to do about it.”
Bowne uses the terms mitigation and adaptation to tell his story. Mitigation refers to stopping our human contributions to the climate change—reducing and ending all emissions; adaptation is how we as “individuals, communities, states and federal government” are going to deal with the changes that already are in motion. What are the changes to come in flood insurance for instance and in how we shore up our coastlines?
“By appreciating our own climatic history, we can better see the climatic future ahead of us.”
Registration, $15, is required for the Presidential Community Enrichment Series, by contacting iaenrichseries@etown.edu.