UMass Boston

“Impacts of Climate Change on Global Public Health”

“Bending the Curve and Bouncing Back to Climate Resilience”

by

Dr. Ram Ramanathan
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Climate Sustainability at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
&
Climate Solutions Scholar, Cornell University

November 9, 2023 
Campus Center, Campus Ballroom, University of Massachusetts Boston 
Reception, 2:30–2:45 p.m.  
Lecture and Discussion, 2:45–4:30 p.m.

Chancellor's Lecture Series Program

Climate change morphed into climate crisis this year, giving us a peek into a world that is warmer by 1.5°C. The rise in temperature will cross the 1.5°C threshold by the early 2030s and will most likely get worse for at least another few decades, even assuming the most optimistic solutions for bending the emissions curve.

A new trans-disciplinary approach is needed to make people and ecosystems resilient to climate stress. The new approach, developed in partnership with the Vatican's science academies, is built on three pillars: mitigation, adaptation, and societal transformation. The approach will be field- tested in partnership with mayors and governors from around the world, who will be convened at the Vatican in a summit. Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco and Dr. Ramanathan are co-leading this effort on behalf of the Vatican science academies. 

Climate change is upon us already.  Left unchecked, it will become the existential challenge of our times. The planet is likely to cross the dangerous threshold of 1.5C warming in less than a decade – when climate change will move into our living rooms like COVID. Going from climate crisis to climate resiliency in ten years will require an approach that will include both intergovernmental collaborations (to bend the emissions curve) and transdisciplinary collaborations (starting at the local city level) to enable citizens and ecosystems to become climate resilient. In this lecture, Professor Ramanathan will share a framework for such an approach to this existential challenge.