PBS host gives free lecture to PSU students

Students can attend a lecture given by geoscientist Richard Alley on Nov. 8 from noon to 1 p.m. in the PSU Science Research & Teaching Center Atrium, room 274. This free lecture is called: “Tiptoeing Past Tipping Points: Ice Cores and Abrupt Climate Change.”

Alley is the Evan Pugh professor of geosciences at Penn State University, where he researches glaciology, ice sheet stability, paleoclimatic records from ice cores and climate and sea level changes. He chaired the National Research Council’s Panel on Abrupt Climate Change and served on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Alley also hosts a PBS series called Earth: The Operator’s Manual. The program provides a clear and concise explanation for why and how the earth’s temperature is rising and what can be done to minimize our reliance on fossil fuels. He travels all over the world for the program—from China to Brazil, from the Southern Alps of New Zealand to the bayous of southern Louisiana. Throughout the journey, Alley provides numbers to explain the world’s energy consumption, detailing how fossil fuels are created and showing exactly how increased CO2 emissions are raising temperatures.

In Earth, Alley walks the viewer through each step of this complex science with remarkable clarity, providing evidence and stating that “science and physics show us carbon dioxide is at levels never seen in human history. And evidence says it’s all of us burning fossil fuels that’s driving the increase.”

In the first episode of Earth, a quote scrolls across the screen: “Climate change, energy security and economic stability are inextricably linked…Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration.” Alley asks the audience to consider who might have said this, and replies to her own question: “Not a pundit, not a politician…the Pentagon.”

At this point, the viewer is transported to U.S. military bases to see what the army is doing to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. According to Alley, the Pentagon uses 300,000 barrels of oil per day, and “a report for the Army found that in five years more than 3,000 service-members have been killed or wounded in supply convoys.” Not only will reducing fossil fuel consumption save money, Alley says, it will save lives.

Throughout the program, Alley avoids political discussion and advocacy. He simply presents the scientific information and gives the viewer much to think about.

Christina Hulbe, a PSU geology professor, describes Alley as “an excellent scientific communicator who approaches the subject from a non-partisan perspective in rigorous scientific language.”

Hulbe explained that it is vital for students to learn from scientists like Alley, because understanding the topics he studies will enable us to approach our decisions over the next few decades from an educated standpoint. Even as we make these decisions now, she says, we have already set something in motion—the past is going to be with us for a long time. “We have to get ready for these [climate] changes and it will be more important than ever to be well informed,” Hulbe said.

In recent years, there has been much debate about the causes of climate change. Is it part of a natural process or is it caused by human activity? Controversy and conspiracy theories have surrounded the debate. What many view as a purely scientific exploration has been highly politicized with events like the 2009 “climate-gate,” when hacked emails were used to discredit scientists researching global warming.

“People who are trying to discredit global warming science are doing a dangerous thing,” Hulbe said. “They won’t be able to see the consequences and their children won’t either, but someone will.”