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AFP/DON EMMERT

Ban Ki-moon, general secretary United Nations, Warning

Ban Ki-moon warning: If it broke up, sea levels could rise by six meters.

UNITED NATIONS, New York: At The Tipping Point...Think of the effect on the coastlines and cities: New York, Mumbai and Shanghai, not to mention small island nations....read New York 6 meter under water ???

Global warming weather discusses-- Timothy Flannery addresses the ozone layer, the earth's atmosphere and conservation, among other topics, at Thursday night's Claritas Distinguished Speaker in the Sciences Series.

Photo Courtesy of The Crusader/Stephanie Beazley

Speaker discusses weather climate change

By Stephanie Beazley found October 19, 2007 Vol. 49 No. 6 at susqu.edu

Internationally acclaimed scientist and activist Timothy Flannery visited Susquehanna Thursday evening to present a global warming lecture as part of the Claritas Distinguished Speaker in the Sciences Series.

The speech, presented in the Degenstein Theater, featured Flannery, a professor of division of environmental and life sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
He spoke about global warming and its threats and said that it is an imminent threat that can only be solved with teamwork.

"We must all work in harmony and with coordinated efforts to save this indivisible planet of ours," Flannery said.

The lecture began with information about the earth's atmosphere, or as Flannery called it, "the great aerial ocean." The atmosphere is so intimately connected with life that it is actually a manifestation of life that must be taken care of, he said.

The gases in our atmosphere -- specifically the ozone layer -- are what protect us from harmful UV?rays and keep the world inhabitable for human life and should be looked at as something to conserve and treasure, he said.

Flannery then turned his attention to acid rain and greenhouse gases: two topics that may sound like old news, but are still considered by scientists today to be the most destructive elements depleting the ozone layer.

Scientists first became aware of holes in the ozone layer in the 1970s, but the holes have since become a more serious issue. Katherine Straub, assistant professor of earth and environmental science at Susquehanna, said in her introduction that "once upon a time, global warming was thought to be our grandchildren's problem." She said it has become everyone's problem, so everyone must cooperate to help fix it.

Flannery said that large-scale climate changes can happen very rapidly and that people must pay more attention to their day-to-day activities in order to bring about ozone-layer repairs. He said that Americans should reduce gas emissions on a large scale --by as much as 80 percent by the year 2050.

Flannery's book, "The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth," is a New York Times best-seller that relates his global warming points to readers in a scientifically viable, yet understandable, way.

The Weather Makers
Author: Tim Flannery; Buy New: $16.32

The Distinguished Visitor Program -- of which the Claritas Distinguished Speaker Series is an offshoot -- is endowed by George E. '64 and Margaret Lauver '66 Harris. The program funds lectures, seminars and residencies for leaders of business, government or education.

The word "Claritas" is of Latin origin and means enlightenment, brilliance or renown. Susquehanna's Claritas series brings a talented and knowledgeable scholar to the university each fall to speak to students and the community about a current topic of interest.

Flannery, Australia's 2007 Man of the Year, received his doctorate at South Wales studying the evolution of macropods. Formerly the director of the South Australian Premier's Science Council and Sustainability Roundtable, he is currently the director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and Australia's National Geographic Society representative.

read also the opposite view Climate Lies: The High Cost of Climate Lies. An energy-rationing bill has been introduced to address global warming.