Focus on Climate Change

January 25, 2008

Kathryn Hobgood
khobgood@tulane.edu

Tulane University will hold a campuswide conversation about climate change next week (Jan. 27–Feb. 1). And the university will not be alone in the dialogue. Events simultaneously will occur at more than 1,000 colleges and universities around the country. At Tulane, faculty members from disciplines across the university will participate in panel discussions about how their areas of research address global warming issues and solutions.

 “Focus the Nation” is the culmination of the Tulane Reading Project. Last summer, all entering first-year students at Tulane received Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert as part of the 2007 Tulane Reading Project.

Upon their arrival at Tulane, students received invitations to participate in book discussions with new friends and faculty members during their first few days on campus. The university also encouraged students to enter an essay contest about the book.

The conversation at Tulane will kick off on Wednesday (Jan. 30), when writer Chris Mooney lectures on “Science at High Speeds: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming.” Mooney, a native New Orleanian and a Washington correspondent for Seed magazine, will examine the political and social contexts that shape views of global warming.

Mooney’s lecture, free and open to the public, takes place at 5 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room in the Lavin-Bernick Center. Following the lecture is a free screening at 7 p.m. of The Two Percent Solution, a webcast about reducing carbon emissions.

The author of Storm World and The Republican War on Science, Mooney has heartfelt concerns about the future of the earth’s climate, but he is hopeful that humans still have a chance to make a difference.

“Human beings are already changing the environments in which hurricanes form and attain their terrifying strength, which means hurricanes will inevitably change, too,” says Mooney in Storm World. “Precisely how and to what extent remains very much unsettled, however, and that makes all the difference.” 

On Thursday (Jan. 31), the basics of global warming issues will be introduced. Panels will delve deeper into issues and solutions related to global warming. More than 25 faculty speakers will explore global warming through the lens of architecture and rebuilding, health, biodiversity, alternative energy, politics and policy, public service and careers, student leadership, religion and indigenous peoples.

The events also include the kickoff of RecycleMania, a national recycling competition between colleges and universities.

“Last year RecycleMania gave our recycling program a great boost at the beginning of the year, and, as a result, our paper and cardboard recycling in 2007 almost doubled — from 121.4 tons in 2006 to 223 tons in 2007,” says Liz Davey, program manager in the Tulane Center for Bioenvironmental Research.
 
In addition, a photography exhibit depicting the effects of climate change around the world is on display at the Lavin-Bernick Center from Sunday (Jan. 27) until Feb.1. Northsoutheastwest, a 360 Degree View of Climate Change, is a traveling exhibit sponsored by the British Council with photos by the international cooperative Magnum Photos.