Rising Waters in a Thirsty World
Friday, June 12, 2009, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Climate change and rising sea levels threaten substantial flooding and droughts worldwide. How do we avoid mass migrations, food shortages, disease and political conflict that could accompany such devastation? Join the world's foremost adaptation experts as they survey threatened regions of the planet, including New York City, and suggest strategies for changing our strained relationship with H2O.
Lilibet Foster, Producer
Susan Ades Stone, Editorial Producer
Moderator
Josh Zepps
Participants:
An activist who is known as "the Ralph Nadar of Canada," Maude Barlow is the best-selling author of 16 books, including the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. She is the Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly as well as Chair of the Board of the Washington-based Food and Water Watch.
In the emerging field of medical ecology, Dickson Despommier is a trailblazer, devising solutions to problems in agriculture and public health that likely will be magnified by climate change. A microbiologist, he is a Professor of Public Health at Columbia University's Mailman School, where he developed the idea of growing food in urban farm skyscrapers.
Radley Horton conducts regional climate change scenario assessments for stakeholders around the globe, projecting impacts on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and infrastructure. He is an Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. Currently, he is the lead for the Science Policy Team of the New York City Panel on Climate Change. Additional research interests include polar climate, sea level rise, and abrupt climate change.
As director of the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities, William Solecki's research focuses on urban environmental change, urban land use and suburbanization. A professor in the Geography Department at Hunter college, he is presently co-chair of Mayor Bloomberg's New York City Panel on Climate Change. Solecki has served on the U.S. National Research Council's Special Committee on Problems in the Environment.
Josh Zepps is a television and radio host. His weekly show on Discovery Science Channel, Brink, took an irreverent look at the latest breakthroughs on the brink of changing our lives.
