World renowned expert on biodiversity Tom Lovejoy will present "A Wild Solution to Climate Change" at 1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 20 at Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church, 1909 Windmill Lane, Alexandria.
Lovejoy will discuss the dramatic and damaging effects of climate change on the Earth's biodiversity and offer practical and effective solutions for reducing those impacts, as well as how saving carbon-dioxide-absorbing forests can slow climate change.
Lovejoy, later the founder of the PBS series Nature, introduced the term “biological diversity” in 1980, one of the reasons many consider him the “godfather of biodiversity.” During more than 30 years of work on the interaction between climate and biodiversity, he brought worldwide attention to tropical deforestation and published the first estimate of global extinction rates. He originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps, produced groundbreaking work on the effects of fragmenting forests, and worked with the United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, and the Global Environment Facility.
Lovejoy is currently a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and university professor at George Mason University’s Environmental Science and Policy Department.
Rapidly warming global temperatures are putting stress on many species, raising the specter of mass extinctions. Warming oceans put coral reefs at risk; droughts and wildfires severely damage critical habitats and cause billions of dollars of damage to human communities and infrastructure.
Lovejoy’s presentation is hosted by Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church’s Climate Action Team, recently launched by the congregation as a year-long project to increase awareness and action around reversing climate change based on the Drawdown model created by Paul Hawken. Register at eventbrite.com/e/74578948643 for this free event open to the community. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact climateaction@mvuc.org.