DIALOGUES 46. Climate Change - Part 2
Following a summer dominated by extreme weather events worldwide and an inexpressible national environmental disaster in Greece, there’s one question on everyone’s minds: is there time to reverse the destruction humans have brought on the planet, or are we heading towards an inevitable and irreversible global climate crisis? On Wednesday, September 29 at 18:30 (EET), the next SNF DIALOGUES webcast invites the public and representatives of the scientific community to a livestreamed open discussion at snfdialogues.org about the future of humanity on a quickly warming planet. Following the first SNF DIALOGUES discussion on climate change that took place in January 2020, this event will continue the conversation on the effects of climate change and ways we can take action.
Scientific data in a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, prepared by 234 scientists from 66 countries, confirm beyond any doubt that our planet is getting hotter and that human beings are the cause. The consequences of this reality are already apparent. This past summer saw the first-ever rainfall in Greenland and a temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit) in Canada. An unprecedented heatwave hit Siberia and mega-fires broke out in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the United States while deadly floods plagued Europe and China.
Scientists tell us we may still have a small window of opportunity to halt global warming—not for the years ahead, where warming is all but guaranteed—but for the decades after 2050. Will humanity immediately make the courageous decisions required, knowing that its sacrifices will benefit not the planet’s current inhabitants, but the generations to come?
Taking part in the discussion will be:
• Niki Evelpidou, Professor in the Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Prodromos Zanis, Professor in the Department of Meteorology and Climatology, School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• Christos Zerefos, Secretary General of the Academy of Athens and Climate Envoy for Greece
Birgit Njaastad, Antarctic Programme Leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute, will share insights on retreating polar ice through a pre-recorded interview that will be broadcast during the live event.
Faced with a climate crisis that seems, to a large extent, unavoidable and irreversible, the challenge now is to explore how to adapt to a new reality where natural disasters occur with increasing frequency and how to take action for future generations.
The DIALOGUES are curated and moderated by Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou and are held through journalism nonprofit iMEdD (incubator for Media Education and Development).
*The opinions expressed by DIALOGUES participants, whether representing officially institutions and organizations or themselves, are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) or iMEdD. Speakers’ remarks are made freely, without prior guidance or intervention from the team.
