April 23: Earth Week Event at Hampshire College

Hampshire College invites the public to Climate Change and Human Survival, a panel discussion with President Jonathan Lash, Professor of Development Studies Betsy Hartmann, and Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies Michael Klare. The event is Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Franklin Patterson Hall's Main Lecture Hall and all are welcome; admission is free.

The panel will discuss implications of the Report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which focused on the adverse effects of climate change on human populations around the globe. The report, released last month, indicates adverse effects such as severe drought, crop failures, intense storms, and persist wildfires will increase in frequency and intensity in the years ahead.

About the Panel:

President Lash is an internationally recognized expert on practical solutions to global sustainability, climate change, and development challenges. He has worked on environmental issues throughout his career, and co-chaired the President's Council on Sustainable Development, a group of government, business, labor, civil rights, and environmental leaders appointed by Bill Clinton. He played a key role in the creation and success of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which in 2007 issued the highly influential "Call to Action" on global warming. Sustainability initiatives launched at Hampshire since Lash became president in 2011 include the Healthy Food Transition.

Professor Hartmann's research and teaching focus on the intersections between population, migration, environment, and security issues. Her books include Reproductive Rights and Wrongs. She is co-editor of the anthology Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties.

Professor Klare writes widely on global resource politics, international peace and security affairs, U.S. military policy, and the global arms trade. His books include The Race for What's Left (2012), Blood and Oil (2004), and Resource Wars (2001).