Institutional News

Global Warming Expert Wallace S. Broecker Comes to Bennington

Columbia University Newberry Professor of Geology Wallace S. Broecker, a major figure in the climate-change debate and one of the most influential geoscientists of the last half-century, will discuss "What Must We Do to Combat Global Warming?" onThursday, September 30, at 7:30pm in the College's Tishman Lecture Hall. The event, this year's Robert H. Woodworth Lecture in the Sciences, is free and open to the public.

Image of Wallace Broecker

Broecker, who coined the term "global warming" in the title of a 1975 article in Science magazine, was one of the first modern scientists to emphasize the threat of human-induced climate change. Today, he has taken the controversial position that emission reductions alone will not sufficiently address the threats of human-induced warming; instead, he advocates for the development of carbon sequestration technologies. The author of more than 450 journal articles and 10 books, Broecker is the recipient of the 2006 Crafoord Prize-considered comparable to the Nobel Prize-for his pioneering research on the global carbon cycle, which established linkages between the ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere.

Following his lecture, on Friday, October 1, Broecker will lead a research seminar on "Water in the Western US: Lessons From the Past," at 1:00 pm in the College's Dickinson Science Building, Room 225. This is also free and open to the public.