Environmental Defenders welcome all to celebrate group's 44th anniversary
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County invite the public to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the organization with its members on Sunday, March 9. The brunch will be from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Loyola University's Retreat and Ecology Campus at 2710 S. Country Club Road, Woodstock. Tickets for the event are $25 for members and $50 for nonmembers, which includes the price of a one-year membership. Guests may attend just the program portion of the event for free, but RSVPs are requested.
Don Wuebbles, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois, will be presenting his program, "Climate Change is Happening Now and It's Affecting Severe Weather." The science is clear and convincing that climate change is happening, happening rapidly, and happening primarily because of human activities. Every weather event that happens nowadays takes place in the context of the changes in the background climate system. Therefore it is not surprising that are significant trends occurring in some types of severe events. In general, the temperatures are higher, the sea level is higher, and there is more water vapor in the atmosphere, which energizes storms. The drying of the subtropics and wetter conditions at more northern latitudes means that both droughts and floods are likely to be increasing issues in various parts of the U.S.
As one of the leaders of the U.S. National Climate Assessment being conducted for Congress under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990, Wuebbles will summarize the current understanding of the science of climate change, with a special emphasis on severe weather and on some of the issues facing the Midwest.
Wuebbles shares in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the international Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Professor Wuebbles is a Coordinating Lead Author for the major international IPCC assessment of climate change being published in 2014 and is a leader in the next U.S. National Climate Assessment being conducted for Congress.
To purchase tickets for this event, go to www.mcdef.org or mail a check, made out to "EDMC" to: 110 S Johnson St., Suite 106, Woodstock, IL 60098. Reservations must be received by Saturday, March 1.
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the environment. The group provides community residents with educational programs and volunteer action on pollution prevention, sustainable land use and energy and natural resource conservation. Donations are encouraged and are tax-deductible as charitable contributions. For information, visit www.mcdef.org or call (815) 338-0393.