Dr. Antonello Provenzale
Dr. Antonello Provenzale, Director of the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources at the National Research Council of Italy, discusses his recent book “History of Climate Change: From the Earth's Origins to the Anthropocene.” Climate change is the number one challenge for the world. The rise in temperature of the last fifty years has been extremely fast, making it difficult for the environment to adapt to the new conditions. The expanding human population needs water, food, energy, and shelter to survive and flourish. Humans need to reduce emissions drastically, re-naturalize the environment, stop the degradation of the soil and the extermination of and in the oceans. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned we should not exceed 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit in order to not tip into a dangerous melting phase. If we do not deal with this challenge now, future natural disasters and costs will increase dramatically.