Dr. James Speth warned a full room of students and faculty about the negative consequences of global climate change and the need for immediate action.
Speth presented, "This Sacred Trust: The American Land and the Climate Emergency," at the Dodd Center on Thursday as part of the The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series.
According to Speth, Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, the temperature of the planet has already risen one degree Fahrenheit. Because of this increase, sea height has risen six inches and permafrost and arctic polar ice caps are melting.
The increase in sea surface temperature may already be contributing to the intensity of hurricanes, and the land area affected by drought has doubled in the past 20 years, Speth said.
Comparing the dangers of climate change to terrorism, Speth warned that climate change is, "by far the biggest threat to American land we've ever seen." He stressed the need for political action and an end to people being "quiet and passive."
Due to previous emissions of greenhouse gases, the global temperature will increase another degree Fahrenheit even if the entire human population immediately ceases greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's still possible to head off catastrophic consequences [of climate change]," Speth said. "It's not possible to head off seriously negative consequences. The difference there is the most important challenge facing modern societies today."
At a time when decreasing emissions is important, the United States has increased its reliance on fossil fuels and refused signing the Kyoto Protocol, part of a treaty committing nations to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Speth said there have been some positive developments in the United States with regard to emissions - individual states, cities and corporations have committed themselves to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Speth, climate change will lead to extreme weather, severe floods, droughts, hurricanes and a huge effect on biodiversity.
Speth predicts the demand for energy-efficiency will increase enough so the private sector will supply highly cheap products.
"The public responds impressively to price signals," Speth said. "The bottom has fallen out of SUV sales in America because of high gas prices."
Speth suggested that in order to lessen the negative consequences of global climate change, policy-makers must not only work toward increasing energy efficiency but also question basic assumptions such as the need for economic growth.
Speth's talk was followed by a brief question and answer session.
"They were very thoughtful questions and even more thoughtful answers," said Dr. Greg Anderson, head of the EEB Department and key organizer of the Teale lecture series for nine years.
"The talk was really powerful and straightforward," said Andrea Purton, philosophy graduate student.
Anderson said talks like "Sacred Trust" were an advantage of large public universities like UConn, and that students "... benefit from exposure to global thinkers about the future of the world."
"I like how [Speth] gave us specific things we can do," said Rachel Prunier, an EEB graduate student. Speth instructed students to find out about the Campus Climate Challenge project, which UConn PIRG is involved in to promote the use of biodiesel fuel in UConn buses.
"I like how [Speth] challenged the university to improve their energy efficiency," said Chris Martine, a Ph.D. candidate in the EEB department.
The Teale series "was stimulated primarily by scientists rejecting the insufficiency and arrogance of scientific solutions as the only resolution to environmental problems," Anderson said. According to Anderson, the Teale series is a university-wide interdisciplinary approach to environmental problems.
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