Proposed Course : Climate Change is Winning: Can We Recover

Would you be interested in taking the course described below?  If so, please let us know by completing and submitting the accompanying "I'm Interested" form. ​

Climate Change is Winning : Can we Recover?

Climate change is one of the most challenging issues facing humanity. This course takes a holistic and quantitative look at where we currently stand in terms of:

• greenhouse gas emissions and current global warming,
• what warming and impacts are projected for a business as usual case, and
• what it will take to at least minimize the potentially catastrophic impacts that future generations will have to deal with.

The course will present a comprehensive analysis of the global climate mitigation challenge and will document that:

• Global warming has accelerated in recent years, approaching 1.3 C warming from the pre-industrial era.
• Greenhouse Gas emissions are the primary driver for the observed warming.
• Serious climate Impacts are here and now; much more to come. 

In a business as usual case the following impacts appear likely:

• wide scale species extinctions on land and in the ocean,
• large geographical areas experiencing severe drought,
• forest fires at an unprecedented scale, millions of people experiencing hunger and malnutrition,
• wild and extreme weather,
• seawater rise threatening the habitability of key cities around the world, and 
• the spread of serious diseases impacting millions of people, particularly in poorer countries. 

Humanity’s growing population and increasing demand for resource intensive goods and services have driven the dramatic emission growth over the Last 50 years.

The potential mitigation impact of the recent Paris Climate Accord is a modest but an important first step in fostering serious international action. The U.S. abandoning this agreement is a step in the wrong direction!

It appears unlikely we will be able to limit warming to 2 degree C or less

Near term, aggressive action is needed to minimize the warming and associated potentially disastrous impacts; key components of such action are discussed at the global, national, local and individual levels

A recent publication by the course instructor Frank Princiotta, We are losing the climate change mitigation challenge; Is it too late to recover? covers the scope of this course and is available here.

Submitted by: Frank Princiotta (fprinciotta@msn.com)
Oct. 15, 2017

Vertical Divider

Depiction of current climate change impacts. From: "USEPA: A Student’s Guide to Climate Change (2016)

About Frank Princiotta
Frank Princiotta recently retired as a Research Director in the Office of Research & Development, Environmental Protection Agency, here in RTP.  He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from City University of NY and a Nuclear Engineering Certificate from the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology. He was a recipient of an EPA gold medal, and received the President’s Meritorious Executive Award on two separate occasions (Jimmy Carter, George H.W Bush).

He played the leadership role in the development of sulfur dioxide pollution control technology, which has been the mainstay of sulfur dioxide control worldwide.

​An author of many scientific papers on air pollution control, he has been a frequent speaker before technical societies, and has testified before Congressional Committees.   In recent years he has focused on what actions are necessary to mitigate global climate change, which he believes is the most important challenge facing humanity.