Nature in the Hot Seat

The reality of global warming means that nature as we know it - the species we love, the ecosystem services that sustain us, and the wild places where we seek solace - is under siege as never before. Besides adding its weight to other long-recognized ecological threats, global warming is impacting nature in ways previously unimagined and potentially lethal, not only to myriad species, but to entire ecosystems. Daunting as saving nature is under such circumstances, it well within our grasp if we act now to slow greenhouse gas emissions, and to implement new conservation philosophies and policies that recognize that we, and all other species, now live in a globally warming world.

Prof. Barnosky has been on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley since 1990, and currently holds the posts of Professor of Integrative Biology, Curator of Fossil Mammals in the Museum of Paleontology, and Research Paleoecologist in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Author of numerous scientific publications, he studies how changing climate impacts earth's ecosystems and the evolution and extinction of species. His new book, "Heatstroke: Nature in the Age of Global Warming" (2009) explores what global warming means for nature itself, for the wild places we love, and for our future.

This free public talk is presented as part of the monthly Science@Cal Lecture Series.

Room 100