Happy Wednesday! This week, we’re going to take a closer look at what climate scientist Michael Mann has been up to lately …
Dr. Mann is a climatologist and the head of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center. His work on the IPCC’s “Third Scientific Assessment Report” on climate change was cited as an important contribution to the IPCC and Al Gore winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. His ‘hockey stick’ graph of increasing Co2 in the atmosphere (coinciding with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution) is a touchstone of controversy among climate change deniers and a ‘smoking gun’ to the other 97% of the people who study it.
As you may be aware, Dr. Mann is in Australia this winter (Australia’s summer), originally to study the impact of ocean warming on the Great Barrier Reef. But the continent-spanning wildfires have unfortunately blazed for weeks, and he’s been frequently asked to comment and explain the impact of climate change (short term and long term) on the Australian people. We’re going to post some links to these stories in case you missed any of them –
Such as the podcast he recorded for Mother Jones Magazine about the climate factors that triggered the storm. Or the opinion piece he wrote for The Guardian that NPR’s “Science Friday” later picked up. He raised eyebrows when he called out Rupert Murdock’s media corporations for ignoring climate change, a story picked up by Australia’s ABC network. And he was interviewed on Bloomberg TV about the Australia government’s failure to enact policies to combat climate change.
Dr. Mann will be returning to the States this summer, and plans for his North American speaking tour are underway, where he will provide an expert’s up-close testimony to the unfolding environmental crisis we face.
Let us know if you’d like to bring Michael Mann to speak to your organization, campus, or conference!
—And that is the story for this week! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest from all of our speakers, scientists and change makers!