UA, NAU, ASU PRESIDENTS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
By ERIC GRAF
Cronkite News Service
TEMPE (Monday, Nov. 26) _ Arizona’s universities must reach beyond the ivory tower and educate the public about the impact global warming could have on the state, University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton said Monday at a conference on the subject.
“Arizona could be ground zero for climate change in the U.S.,” Shelton said.
“Helping the public understand the science is a key role for universities,” Shelton said. “We have to continue providing basic science and cutting-edge technologies.”
At the Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Higher Education in Arizona, held at Arizona State University, the presidents of all three public universities discussed the challenges climate change poses to their institutions and the state.
Northern Arizona University President John D. Haeger said reconsidering the way the U.S. meets its energy needs is more than an environmental issue.
“An economy based on oil is not sustainable,” Haeger said. “Doing nothing is not acceptable.”
In addition to reducing emissions of gases that contribute to global warming, breaking the country’s dependence on foreign oil would help the U.S. economically and politically, Haeger said.
“We can protect the environment and we can strengthen America’s position globally,” Haeger said.
ASU President Michael M. Crow said universities can help leaders and citizens make better decisions involving climate change by improving teaching techniques.
“The root of the problem is how we teach,” Crow said. “We are producing individuals incapable, increasingly so, of communicating with each other.”
Crow compared predictions about global warming to the work of scientists who accurately described New Orleans’ vulnerability to a major hurricane but weren’t heeded. Communicating the predictions is key, he said.
“Climates will change dramatically,” Crow said. “We need a whole new way of thinking about these things.”
The three universities and the human race as a whole will have to adapt significantly to meet the challenge of climate change, Crow said.
“We’ve got trouble in River City, right here,” Crow said.
Ernest Calderon, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, said the three universities must begin changing what students learn to take into account the importance of global warming.
“You’re teaching yesterday,” Calderon said, addressing the presidents and faculty members. “You’re afraid to teach about global warming.”
The three presidents talked about the steps their institutions have taken to increase energy efficiency, including using alternative fuel vehicles and constructing new buildings meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
The conference began with dire assessments of climate change from various professors, including Jonathan T. Overpeck, who heads the University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth and is part of United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“We in Arizona need to take climate change more seriously,” Overpeck said. “We’re situated in one of the worst spots.”
Since 1900, global warming has affected Arizona more than anywhere else in the U.S., Overpeck said, adding that the state’s temperatures could rise by eight degrees on average by the end of the century even with reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.