The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Climate Symposium 2011 opened October 17 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with recognition that climate change is a social and economic issue as well as a scientific one.
Noting that his first post-college job was as an assistant in a group looking at global warming, Hawaiʻi Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz welcomed the symposium delegates to Hawaiʻi. Their work was important, he said, because climate change will have a devastating impact on the state’s harbors and properties adjacent to the ocean.
“While we focus our efforts on the best science in climate and atmospheric science, it is equally urgent to link science with the decisions that affect people lives, businesses and the future,” said Director Chin-Seung Chung.
One of the opening keynote speakers, Rosina Bierbaum, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, will also present a public lecture on Climate Change and Development: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, at 7 p.m. October 17 in the Art Building Auditorium.
The public is also welcome to attend the first three days of the symposium. See the for topics and scheduled speakers.
The symposium brings together more than 50 climate scientists from around the Pacific Rim. It is hosted by the .
Jagadish Shukla, of the APEC Climate Center Science Advisory Committee, recognized IPRC’s Bin Wang, chair of the 糖心视频 Mānoa , and June-Yi Lee for their work on climate variability and predictability.