Climate Change – A Global Journey

Understanding the full context of the existential threat of climate change requires not just a
fundamental knowledge of the underlying science, but also knowledge of issues linked to social, economic, and environmental justice. This presentation takes us on a global journey to
contextualize real-world impacts of climate disruption. Our journey begins in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and ends in the hallways of the 2021 UN climate negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. Along the way, we will meet with indigenous peoples, youth, scientists, policymakers, and others who are on the front lines of the climate change saga. We will see how the industrial boom following World War II launched an orgy of energy and material consumption with concomitant waste that transitioned planet Earth from the Holocene to a new epoch—the Anthropocene. Although the window for action on climate change is closing, we can find hope in nature-based solutions. Nature is priceless, but not valueless. Addressing climate disruption requires a sustainable balance intersecting profits, people, and our planet.

Keith Peterman is a Professor Emeritus in the Chemistry Department at York College of Pennsylvania. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany and in Russia, a National Academy of Sciences Research Scholar in Poland, a Research Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, and a visiting professor in China and New Zealand. His current research and writing focus on issues related to climate change and sustainability, and he is a coeditor of five recent books on these topics. He takes student groups to Costa Rica each year to investigate climate change issues linked to impacts, adaptation,
and mitigation. He participates in the annual UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) as an accredited member of the press. He is co-author with Matt Cordes of the 2022 book titled Contextualizing Climate: Linking Science and Culture. He is a recipient of the American Chemical Society CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education.