7:00 PM Friday, August 14, 2009
 
“Scenarios of Global Change in the Next 50 Years”

Please join us for what will be a very enlightening evening with Professor Sala, an international leader in ecological science and global environmental policy .  Please don't miss this opportunity to connect with the Brown community while learning about a terribly important issue from a leading authority. 

Scenarios are plausible, challenging, and relevant stories about how the future may unfold that can be told both in words and numbers.  Scenarios are not forecasts, projections, or predictions but they illuminate the costs and benefits of different paths that society may follow.  Scenarios should provide guidance for action. 
 
This presentation will be based on four scenarios developed under the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and will focus on the consequences for the provision of ecosystem services, which include food production, clean water, biodiversity and others. The four scenarios encompass a full range of possible options that include globalization vs. regionalization and proactive vs. reactive attitudes towards environmental problems. Patterns, specific for each scenario, in indirect drivers, such as population growth and individual consumption, feed ecological and economical models that yield patterns of direct drivers such as land-use change or climate warming.
 

The location for the event, which will include a seated dinner, will be announced soon.  Given there are a number of travelers in town this August, please RSVP as soon as is convenient for us to finalize the right venue for this event.  Final numbers will be counted after 5PM on Tuesday August 11th and follow-up information will be sent to those who have RSVP'd on Thursday (8/13) afternoon