2008 Joint Annual Meeting (5-9 Oct. 2008): Global Climate Change: The Science, the Likely Impacts, and Possible Solutions

This lecture will begin with a review of the now-solid evidence for a human influence on the climate of recent decades. Such evidence includes instrumental measurements available for the past two centuries, paleoclimate observations spanning more than a millennium, and comparisons of the predictions from computer models with observed patterns of climate change. The lecture will then address future likely impacts of human-induced climate change including possible influences on sea level rise, severe weather, and water supply. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of possible solutions to the climate change problem.