Talking Green: 'Forecasting our Future' with Katharine Hayhoe in Steamboat Springs
By Tim Sullivan/YVSC for the Steamboat Pilot & Today
Jan. 13, 2023 – While we are enjoying a wonderful “normal” winter here in the Yampa Valley, elsewhere in the world the uncertain impacts of a changing climate are evident.
After experiencing their hottest summer in recorded history in 2022, many European countries welcomed the new year with historic winter warmth and a distressing lack of snow in the Alps. California is experiencing a series of wet storms bringing flooding to many areas, while bringing welcome snow to higher levels.
These weather incidents, while not individually unprecedented, are made more likely due to increasing global temperatures that can drive both heat waves and cold snaps, drought and flooding. They are evidence of what globally prominent climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, Ph.D., refers to as “global weirding.”
We are very fortunate to have a chance to hear directly from Dr. Hayhoe as she joins us for an installment of the Sustainability Speaker Series at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. Her talk will be titled “Forecasting Our Future: A Conversation about Climate Change and Extreme Weather,” a highly relevant topic for our times.
The Sustainability Speaker Series is a collaboration between the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council, Colorado Mountain College and the Bud Werner Memorial Library that seeks to connect our community with timely insights, research and actions that inform and inspire how we build our sustainable Yampa Valley futures.
Katharine Hayhoe is one of the most recognized and influential climate scientists and communicators active today. She is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is the chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, and a professor at Texas Tech University. Dr. Hayhoe has served as lead author on multiple National Climate Assessments. Her recent book, “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Care for Hope and Healing in a Divided World,” has been described as one of the more important books about climate change to have been written. Copies of ”Saving Us” will be available for sale and signing before and after the event, courtesy of Off the Beaten Path Bookstore.
Dr. Hayhoe’s message is one of both hope and concern. She is clear about the perils we face if we don’t address rising greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, she also sees hope in the solutions available today, and the ability to find common ground in a time of polarization through shared values concerning what is at risk. Dr. Hayhoe believes the most important thing any of us can do to address climate change, is to talk about it with those we know. So, please join us for this important conversation in our community.
For more information about the talk visit the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council.
Tim Sullivan is the resilient land and water director for Yampa Valley Sustainability Council.