Climate Change 360 - a virtual lecture series online, Houston

Climate Change 360 – a Virtual Lecture Series

Mondays & Wednesdays, August 16 – 25, 6 p.m. central, online

Join a virtual lecture series to learn all about climate change, its causes, direct and indirect effects, policy that can impact its course, and actions we can take as individuals, households, businesses, schools, and faith communities to make a difference.

The schedule is:

• Monday, Aug. 16: Science of Climate Change: Causes & Direct Effects, Professor Dan Cohan
• Wednesday, Aug. 18: Climate Change, Changing Disasters, Professor Elyse Zavar
• Monday, Aug. 23: The Federal Policy Landscape for Climate Mitigation & Adaptation, Gavin Dillingham, PhD
• Wednesday, Aug. 25: Climate Change Solutions Across Scales – from Personal Action to Global Transformation on Six Fronts, Phoebe Barnard, PhD

Get full details and register for any/all of the talks on www.eventbrite.com at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-change-360-a-virtual-lecture-series-tickets-161839852355. This event is organized by Lutherans Restoring Creation – Gulf Coast, in partnership with the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston and Texas Impact/Texas Interfaith Power & Light. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.

Here are details on the full program:

Science of Climate Change: Causes & Direct Effects

Monday, Aug. 16, 6 p.m. central, online

 Join Professor Dan Cohan for a discussion of the causes and effects of climate change. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after his talk.  Daniel Cohan is an associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University and author of the forthcoming book, Confronting Climate Gridlock.

Climate Change, Changing Disasters

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 6 p.m., central, online

 Join Professor Elyse Zavar as she examines the ways in which a warming globe alters hazard exposure and disaster severity and discusses how households and communities are adapting to and mitigating those risks. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after her talk.  Professor Zavar is an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management & Disaster Science at the University of North Texas. Her research focuses on hazard mitigation, long-term community recovery, and disaster commemoration practices.

The Federal Policy Landscape for Climate Mitigation & Adaptation

Monday, Aug. 23, 6 p.m. central

 Join Dr. Gavin Dillingham to learn about policies to address climate change. Federal policy makers are taking a two-pronged approach to climate change. The first is decarbonization and reducing greenhouse gases. The second is focused on climate risk and the steps that need to be taken to lessen the impacts of these risks. Action to decarbonize and to mitigate climate risk will come from Executive Orders and legislation. What has been accomplished to date, what is under consideration and what is still lacking will be discussed. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after his talk.  Dr. Gavin Dillingham is CEO of Pythias Analytics and Director for Clean Energy Policy at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). At HARC, Gavin leads multi-stakeholder efforts focusing on policy and programs to improve the climate resilience of power infrastructure and built environment and to help usher in the energy transition via a variety of clean energy initiatives. Pythias Analytics brings together climate and decision science to provide climate analytics, scenario planning and decision optimization.

Climate Change Solutions Across Scales – from Personal Action to Global Transformation on Six Fronts Wednesday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m., central

 Join Dr. Phoebe Barnard to consider action on climate change at different scales.  Her talk will focus on turning plans and policies into effective action and management,  focusing on the six areas of recommended action in World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency paper (energy, pollutants, nature, food systems, population stabilization, economic reforms), of which she was one of five core coauthors (with 13,800+ scientist cosignatories). Dr. Barnard will highlight which of these are firmly under our personal control at some level, and how – versus those which require us to elect leaders who will institute the needed policies and laws.  Or, who will manage the situation of increasing chaos, if we fail to take transformative action in time. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after her talk.  Dr. Phoebe Barnard is a global change scientist, public policy wonk, communications strategist and filmmaker with a passion for transformative sustainability change.  She is also the Conservation Biology Institute’s Associate Strategist, Affiliate Full Professor at University of Washington, and Research Associate at University of Cape Town.