DANBURY, CONN. — Scientific inquiries supporting the view that the global climate is warming at an accelerated pace due to human activity will be explored in a lecture at Western Connecticut State University by WCSU ecologist Dr. Mitch Wagener at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18.

Wagener, associate professor of biological and environmental sciences, will discuss “How Do We Know the Climate is Changing?” in his presentation in Room 125 of the Science Building on WestConn’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Admission will be free and the public is invited to attend. The talk will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.

“A large majority of scientists now believe that our climate is warming, and that human activity has played a prominent role,” Wagener observed. He said that the lecture will provide an introduction to the scientific study of climate change and its ecological effects, offering perspective for enhanced public understanding of why many scientists view the evidence of global warming and human impact on the process as conclusive.

A researcher in the fields of invertebrate zoology and soil ecology, Wagener participated last year in a “Focus the Nation” teach-in on global warming at WestConn, offering scientific insights into how trends toward warmer and wetter weather and rising sea levels will affect the ecology of the New England region. He described forums and lectures on public interest themes such as global warming as an important means to share the insights provided by scientific inquiry at the nation’s universities with policy makers and the community at large.

“It’s not just a matter of hot weather,” he explained. “It’s a matter of changing a lot of ways we interact among ourselves and with our environment. We’re going to have to adapt to the change in the climate. We cannot ignore it.”

Wagener’s lecture will be presented as part of the WCSU “Science at Night” series, which provides a forum for specialists in a wide range of fields to present scientific topics of general interest to the academic community and the public.

For more information, contact Wagener at (203) 837-8790 or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

 

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