Dr. James Porter said the debate is over about climate change, and it’s time for Georgians to take steps to help lessen the impact on the Peach State.
“The thing Joe Public can do first is to realize that energy conservation is important. And there are steps we can take that will not destroy our relatively comfortable lifestyle,” said Dr. Porter, a past recipient of the Ecological Society of America’s Environmental Educator of the Year Award. “We need to think about what we do at home, and what kind of car we drive.”
He said the last 1,000 scientific papers written on climate change agree that global temperatures are rising and that human activity that contributes to the rise of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is the cause.
IF YOU GOWhat: “Effects of Global Climate Change on Georgia,” lecture by Dr. James PorterWhen: 7:30 p.m. todayWhere: Goodroe Auditorium, Memorial Hall, Dalton State College
The only remaining debate, he said, is how quickly change will occur and how widespread the impact will be.
Current estimates indicate sea levels will rise one to three feet within 100 years. Each foot of sea level rise will flood 1,000 feet of Georgia’s piedmont and coastal areas, he said.
Some people remain skeptical of climate change.
James Rust, a retired engineering professor from Georgia Institute of Technology, calls climate change “natural.”
“And carbon dioxide is not doing anything,” he said. “Carbon dioxide is getting a bad rap.”