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Paul Mayewski of UMO's Climate Change Institute talks on the future of our planet
Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Bar Harbor Whale Museum

This Event is Now July 24!

What is climate change? Why does it change? Why does even a small change in our climate have such grave portents for the future?

Paul Andrew Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, will answer some of these questions in a lecture he is giving July 24 at 7 p.m. in the Bar Harbor Whale Museum in downtown Bar Harbor. The museum is cosponsored by College of the Atlantic and the Bar Harbor Whale Museum.

The title of his talk, "The Ice Chronicles, Rapid Climate Change, the Importance of Polar Regions, and Implications for the Future," reflects the research Mayewski has done during some 50 expeditions to such remote regions as Antarctica, the Arctic, the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau and Tierra del Fuego. Mayewski is the co-author of the 2002 book, The Ice Chronicles: The Quest to Understand Global Climate Change.

Beyond talking about what climate is and why it changes, he will discuss such issues as how fast climate changes, whether humans have indeed impacted climate, whether small changes in climate are important, and whether recent climate change is part of a natural process or a "new state." He'll also answer the question: What do we do now?

Mayewski's talk is part of the summer focus on climate change offered by the Bar Harbor Whale Museum, which has opened a new climate change exhibit at the museum. This exhibit, currently the only one in Maine, helps people understand what climate is, how it affects the atmosphere, the essential connection between climate and oceanic currents, and how complicated change can be-with warming of the seas potentially causing cooling of the atmosphere in certain locations. Through this knowledge, curator Toby Stephenson hopes, visitors can become responsible environmental stewards.

Mayewski, who holds a PhD from Ohio State University, was a consultant to the exhibit and has done significant work in the field, documenting changes in atmospheric chemistry produced naturally and by humans. He is also credited with early discovery of recent Antarctic and Himalayan ice loss and atmospheric behavioral changes due to abrupt climate change events.

Mayewski was awarded the 2007 Lowell Thomas Award by The Explorers Club and holds the first ever Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research. The Mayewski Peak in Antarctica is named for him.

The Bar Harbor Whale Museum is located at 52 West St. on the waterfront in Bar Harbor. It is Maine's only museum devoted to whales. Admission is free; donations are accepted. 288-0288.