The Last Time it Got This Hot on Earth

Apr 22, 2018 - 3:00 pm EDT - 5:00 pm EDT

Central Queens Y, Forest Hills, NY

The Last Time it Got This Hot on Earth: A Climate Scientist Looks Back and Then Forward to a Sustainable Future

With Professor Stephen Pekar

Carbon dioxide is rising at an unprecedented rate, chiefly due to fossil fuel use and clearing of forests. Humanity has started an uncontrolled experiment that is like putting our climate on a “hot plate.” With greenhouse gases rising to levels not seen in tens of millions of years, understanding past eras helps us understand our future is like “looking back to our future.” A professor of Earth and Environmental Science at Queens College, Dr. Stephen Pekar will talk about what the Earth’s climate was like when the level of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide was as high as predicted for this century. Dr. Pekar’s research has taken him on expeditions around the world, including Antarctica, to understand climate and oceanographic changes 16 to 45 million years ago and what that means for humanity’s future. He will also discuss what we can do as citizens to create a more sustainable world.

Suggested donation: $5 member / $8 non-member

Forest Hills Jewish Center: 106-06 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills, NY 11375
More information at www.cqy.org or (718) 268-5011 ext. 151 or pkurtz@cqy.org.