Clear talk on climate change

ABOVE: Ralph J. Cicerone, PhD, president of the National Academy of Sciences, presents the most current data on climate change during a talk Jan. 23 at WUSTL. He pointed out, for example, that scientists have been able to measure the decline in atmospheric oxygen caused by fossil-fuel consumption. “Physical principles explain the warming,” he says.“It’s the added greenhouse gases, and at this point there is no other viable explanation. Scientists don’t achieve much if they simply confirm what other people have always found, so there are always people trying to be skeptical and ornery and come up with other ideas. But it’s 35 years now where no other explanation has worked.” BELOW: Cicerone converses with Adam Hasz, a senior majoring in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences; and biology professors in Arts & Sciences Himadri Pakrasi, PhD, director of the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES), and Barbara Schaal, PhD, director of the Tyson Research Center. The talk, the first in a series on climate change, was sponsored by I-CARES and the Tyson Research Center. Both groups plan to continue to engage the WUSTL community in an ongoing conversation about climate change. (Credit: David Kilper (2))