Responding to Climate Change: A Role for Ecosystems

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:30:00 GMT

With a growing number of reports show that climate change will impact human health, economic and national security, and agricultural and natural resource management, scientists and policymakers are now considering how to regulate carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Legislation has been introduced to implement cap and trade systems and carbon taxes, and to promote carbon sequestration. Informed policy decisions require that policymakers understand the potential role of ecosystems in mitigating the problems caused by carbon emissions.

Join internationally recognized ecosystem researchers to learn what ecosystem science can tell us about carbon sequestration.

Speakers
  • Dr. Robin Graham – Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Environmental Policy and Carbon Sequestration by Ecosystems
  • Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Ocean Fertilization: Ironing Out Uncertainties in Climate Engineering
  • Peter Curtis: The Ohio State University: Forest carbon storage in the upper Midwest: Lessons from the past and predictions for the future
  • J. Patrick Megonigal, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: Carbon In, Methane Out: The Greenhouse Gas Balance of North American Wetlands
  • Charles Rice, Kansas State University: Carbon Sequestration in Agro-ecosystems
  • John Arnone, Desert Research Institute: Carbon Sequestration in Deserts
  • Dr. Thomas E. Jordan – Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; President, Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, Moderator

RSVP’s please contact Megan Kelhart at [email protected].

For more information about this science briefing or the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, please contact [email protected].

Room 3111, Smithsonian Institution Ripley Center

(Entrance is adjacent to the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall)