Global warming forum this week at MMC

Amin Colominas/Contributing Writer

news@fiusm.com

A distinguished meteorology professor will be coming to the University to discuss issues of global warming and the impacts it has on the world.

The lecture hopes to give the audience a stronger grasp on global warming and what its effects can mean for southern Florida, and many other parts of the world.

Michael Mann, climatologist and geophysicist, is one of the most foremost experts on the debate involving global warming. As the current director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, Mann has made many and great contributions to the scientific understanding of historic climate change.

Through his work with theoretical models and observational data to better understand Earth’s climate system, Mann has pioneered techniques to find patterns in past climate change, and to isolate climate signals from “noisy data.”

His research has shown the rise in global temperatures and their direct correlations to industrialization and the use of fossil fuels.

Mann has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed and edited publications, and has also published two books: “Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming in 2008” and “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines.”

Mann’s extensive and exhaustive pursuit of knowledge in the field of climatology has earned him numerous awards, going as far as making Bloomberg News’ List of the 50 Most Influential People of 2013.

The lecture aims to provide the community with useful knowledge.

This information is especially important for residents of Miami. Extensive research done into rising sea levels shows the possibility of the entirety of the southern portion of Florida being underwater.

This possibility is shown to be a nearly guaranteed future unless immediate work is done to reduce the use of fossils fuels.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere can be expected to increase Earth’s average temperature, influence the patterns and amounts of precipitation, reduce ice and snow cover, raise the sea level and increase the acidity of our oceans.

The actual magnitude of these changes will be dependent on many factors, including the rate at which levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere continues to increase, how strongly features of the climate respond to the expected increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and natural influences on climate and natural processes within the climate system.

The EPA predicts these changes will impact our food supply, water resources, infrastructure, ecosystems and even our own health.

Ashley Planas, a freshman biology major, sees this lecture as a major learning opportunity.

“When it comes to climate change, you never really get one clear story,” she said. “Some say the effects of global warming are understated, and others that the media has sensationalized the whole topic. It’ll be refreshing hearing all the facts from a definitive qualified expert.”

Jonah Ghazal, junior finance major, shares a similar sentiment.

“It’s pretty clear that the world as a whole needs to come together to tackle the global dilemma of climate change,” he said. “While it may not be our most immediate problem today, it can grow to nearly insurmountable proportions for future generations.”

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies and the School of Environment, Arts and Society.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 at 2 p.m. in Graham Center Room 140 at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

To RSVP, go to sipa.fiu.edu/events.