Last Wednesday, the New York Times published a long story on global warming.
In scary, yet very scientific, terms, it examined the ongoing controversy over the seemingly irrefutable fact that every day, the world pours more carbon dioxide into the air.
Next Wednesday– at 7:30 p.m. on January 5 — Dr. James Hansen will speak at the Westport Library.
Dr. James Hansen
He’s the man who brought global warming to the world’s attention in the 1980s, in testimony before Congress. With a background in both space and earth sciences, he has a broad perspective on the status and prospects of our little planet.
Hansen is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an adjunct professor at Columbia, and director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
His library appearance is part of WestportREADS month. The 2011 book is Zeitoun — Dave Eggers’ account of a devout Muslim’s life during and after Hurricane Katrina.
The tie-in with that horrible hurricane is important: global warming may be implicated in rising sea levels, and a rise in fierce hurricanes.
Every Westporter should put James Hansen’s library appearance on their calendars. We’re a shoreline community — and global warming may have a major impact on our shore. Some believe it already has.
Sure, the talk will be on a mid-winter night. But it’s worth venturing out to. Just bundle up.
Or not.
Compo Beach, a few years from now?