CACOR Live: Dr. Mike Brklacich - Climate Change hope

CACOR Live presents:

Speaker:  Dr. Mike Brklacich

Topic:  Climate Change: Searching for a Pathway to Hope

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Presentation Summary:

Climate crises have captured much of our attention over the past 18 months.  More frequent and intense extreme events such as droughts and wildfires, the breaching of the 1.5°C warming threshold and climate action setbacks all engender despair. But there are glimmers of hope that collectively suggest we may be able to reduce human impacts on climate and enhance our capacity to live with change. Key environmental and human factors contributing to emerging climate crises set the foundation for this seminar. We then review recent events that offer hope, ranging from international activities (e.g. emergence of loss and damage initiatives) through to efforts that touch our daily lives (e.g. municipal engagement in climate action plans). Overall, preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system (i.e. a goal from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol) and learning to live with climatic change (hopefully) continue to be within our reach.

Bio:

During his 28-year career at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, Mike Brklacich was Chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies (2006-12), Associate Dean (Graduate Programs, Research and International) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2015-21) and a Chancellor’s Professor (2014-19).   He formally retired from Carleton in January 2022 and is currently a Professor Emeritus.  His +40-year interdisciplinary research program spanned food security and food systems, rural livelihoods, human dimensions of global environmental change and environmental policy and was supported by multiple Canadian and international funding agencies.  He played leading roles in the development of international research programs on Human Security and on Food Systems, as well as assisting with the development and advancement of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change.  He contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for more than 15 years and was part of the international team that was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.  More information about Mike is available at: https://carleton.ca/geography/people/brklacichmike/

This presentation is being host sponsored by Bob Jones