SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, September 18, 2014 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Global Climate Is Changing – Or Is It?
And If So – Why?

by
by Jack Fishman - Saint Louis University
& William Hayden Smith - Washington University

Professor Jack Fishman of Saint Louis University and Professor William Hayden Smith of Washington University, will be featured at the September meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society.

There is strong, but perhaps not yet conclusive, evidence that the climate is changing. Average temperatures are rising in many regions, leading to shifts in weather patterns. Local ecologies are stressed and shifting. Sea waters are rising. While the global climate is known to have changed many times in geologic history due to natural causes, most scien-tists believe that the current climate changes are either triggered or accelerated by human activity. However, some scientists dispute the projected rate of climate change and the role of human activity in causing the change. Dr. Fishman will present some of the findings of climatologists that support theories of global warming and point to human activity to explain the rate of climate change. Dr. Smith will examine climate data and dispute the global projections and the assertions that human activity is a major factor. A discussion period will follow the two presentations.

Dr. Jack Fishman is Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences at Saint Louis University. His research interests are focused on satellite studies of atmospheric composition and pollution; global pollution and crops, at-mospheric chemistry, and global change due to human activity.

Dr. William H. Smith is Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and a Fellow of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University. His research projects involve climate change studies, the development and application of remote sensing instruments to environmental problems, and the development of medical diagnostics for long-term spacecraft missions.

The format for the meeting will be as follows:
1. Dr. Fishman and Dr. Smith will each be given 30 minutes for their presenta-tions. There will be no questions during the presentations themselves.
2. Cards will be passed out to the audi-ence before the presentations. After both presentations are finished, those who wish to ask questions will pass their card forward and cards will be randomly drawn to select who will ask a question. The time allotted for the question period will be limited to 30 minutes.
We look forward to a lively meeting!

Upcoming meetings:

October: Catarina Ubach

Meeting Agenda

Welcome

Introduction of Officers

Dr. Fishman and Dr. Smith

Announcements and Star Parties