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We have to change. Big Time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report paints a sobering picture of the effects of climate change. It explains the science behind our changing environment and considers the responses that ease the rate and magnitude of change, and to adapt to changes that are now considered inevitable. If modern science is to be trusted, then society faces overwhelming challenges in the coming decades – challenges that raise ethical questions, issues of equity, social justice and human security. According to Karen O’Brien, a lead author on the adaptation chapter of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, responding to climate change in a way that successfully prevents or minimizes ecological and social disasters will require societal transformations to occur at a breadth, depth and speed that are probably unmatched in human history.

On Feb. 18, The Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre (GEC3) will present a free public lecture by Prof. O’Brien, in which she will explain why it’s time for research on the human dimensions of climate change to go much further in exploring how culture, values, and worldviews influence behaviours and why innovative interdisciplinary approaches can help resolve some of the roadblocks that impede action toward a sustainable future.

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What:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý GEC3 Speaker Series with Karen O’Brien The human dimensions of climate change: Is it time to go deeper?

When: ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Feb. 18, 2009, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ University, Burnside Hall, 805 Sherbrooke St. W., Room 426

GEC3 is a cross-disciplinary, multi-university research centre bringing together more than 40 researchers from six Quebec universities (³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ, Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval, Université du Québec à Rimouski) to study processes, modelling and impact of environmental and climate change.

On the web: www.mcgill.ca/gec3