There is no doubt among the world’s scientists (including BU’s) that anthropogenic climate change is underway, which if it continues at the current rate will radically alter the shape of the world’s landmass and the nature of its ecosystems. The average global temperature, according to NASA, has increased by .74 degrees Celsius since the 1880s, and the past three Octobers have been the hottest on record. Some believe that the earth may soon experience the sixth massive global extinction event (defined as affecting greater than fifty percent of the world’s species). There could be no greater global challenge than understanding the causes of global climate change and finding ways to live sustainably on Earth.
The world’s governments have begun to respond, most recently with the Paris Agreement signed in April by 193 nations, to keep the increase in the global average temperature “to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” As the nation that contributes the most carbon per capita to Earth’s atmosphere and second most overall carbon to the atmosphere, the US will need to make enormous changes in order to bring its consumption down to agreement levels. Although this is a challenging goal, there is some evidence that even a 2 degree Celsius rise in temperature could result in an ocean level rise of 10 feet. That is not only a worrisome prospect to those of us living on land reclaimed from the tidal Charles River, but also to people worldwide, as it would destroy the homes of hundreds of millions of people who live near seas.
Turning this situation around will require the efforts of all of us. BU, as a global research institution dedicated to educating and producing new knowledge for the betterment of humanity, can lead the way. Our students, faculty, and administration are fully engaged, attacking the problem and seeking solutions on multiple levels. Student interest in climate change is growing rapidly, and there is now a new cross-college minor in sustainable energy as well as a new living-learning community, Earth House, to respond to student demand.
Our faculty has great strength in the biogeosciences of climate change: Pamela Templer, Richard Primack, and Michael Dietze are measuring changes in forests and their ecosystems, near and far; Les Kaufman is monitoring coral reefs as they struggle for equilibrium in rising ocean temperatures; and Lucy Hutyra and Nathan Phillips are monitoring urban pollution here in Boston. We also have great faculty expertise in the economics and politics of climate change and its mitigation. Tony Janetos and Adil Najam have each made major contributions to the national and international efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. And the study of sustainability branches out to humanistic methodologies as well. Environmental historians like Edmund Russell are studying the co-evolution of humans and ecologies, and preservationists like Daniel Bluestone advocate preserving (rather than trashing) the built environment. Our faculty, such as Anne Short Gianotti and Ian Sue Wing, study the effects of climate change and its mitigation on vulnerable peoples, reminding us of the complicated moral obligations to present and future generations affected by social and political forces over which they have no say.
Finally, our University’s administration and Board of Trustees are also leading the way to a more sustainable future. After intensive committee study, as well as strong advocacy from faculty and students, the Board decided in its Fall 2016 meeting to avoid investments in companies that extract coal and tar sands oil, to divest from any direct investments in companies that continue to explore new fossil fuel reserves of any kind, to continue to explore new investments in green energy companies, and to create a comprehensive Climate Action Plan for the university.
The result of the presidential election suggests that that many of our fellow citizens do not believe the mounting evidence of our precarious future or that many Americans are not willing to make the sacrifices that mitigating climate change requires. However, our faculty, students, and institutional leaders are giving us hope and making commitments to progressively respond to climate change. We will continue to work locally, on campus and through the city of Boston, and globally through our research and educational programs. Much can be done through committed local and regional action, as California has shown through its leadership in reducing the carbon emissions of automobiles nationwide. We in the College of Arts & Sciences at Boston University are committed to doing our part in educating, discovering, and acting for a sustainable future for planet Earth and its creatures.
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This is the second of several dean’s notes in which I discuss five key priorities that will define the future of the Arts & Sciences at BU. These priorities inform our strategy for growth and development of faculty, degree programs, research collaborations, and fundraising. They recognize existing faculty strengths and respond to global challenges and opportunities, as well as student interest. Taken together, these priorities offer opportunities for faculty and departments to build on collective strengths in ways that best fit their disciplinary assets, but encourage interdisciplinary discovery. These priorities are:
- Embracing the evolving powers of data analytics and infusing the disciplines of the college—from the humanities to the natural sciences—with the opportunities presented by data science.
- Renewing our support for the humanities as a crucial component of a liberal education and critical perspective on our technological age.
- Accelerating our strong neuroscience programs so that we can map the brain to better understand the neural bases of behavior and disease.
- Enabling BU to play an important part in humankind’s efforts to understand, mitigate, and adjust to climate change and create sustainable ways of life.
- Understanding the roots of inequality and the requirements of justice, and embracing our special role as educators in creating social mobility by increasing the accessibility of a BU education for talented students regardless of family income.