Climate change is no longer a distant apocalypse, but an emerging reality experienced on the ground by regions around the globe. The recent spate of natural disasters – from forest fires, to searing temperatures, to drought, to hurricanes – injects urgency into the search for sophisticated data, near-term technological solutions and strategies for coping in an altered world. Indeed, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted, “Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.”
Sustained reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases are a top strategic priority that will require the involvement of communities around the globe and the participation of problem-focused partnerships among academia, industry, government and private and non-profit policy advocates. Societal gaps in knowledge about the severity and implications of climate change within individual countries and the political will to undertake coordinated global policies present real challenges. This workshop is designed to bring together key stakeholders with an eye toward developing an integrated approach toward the problem that focuses on education, research, innovation and technology translation.
