Managing a Changing Climate
The consequences of global climate change are mind-boggling. The future may see huge sections of the Earth’s polar ice caps melting away; major coastal cities flooding under rising ocean levels; large portions of tropical rainforests transformed to wasteland; and massive hurricanes and violent tornadoes on a scale never before seen.
According to a 2003 Zogby opinion poll, nearly four of every five Americans have accepted that global warming is real and that something must be done about it. With initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, most governments have also moved from a wait-and-see posture to one of action.
Such shifts in public perception have resulted from careful scientific work—and Boston University researchers have been at the fore, engaging the issue on many levels. From examining the effects of climate change on natural ecosystems, to understanding its impact on human economies, to engineering ways to reduce human impact on the environment—researchers at BU have developed tools, information, and understanding essential to deal with this ever-growing challenge.
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