Climate change and world security
is topic of presentation

The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach at the State University of New York at New Paltz, the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Gillespie Forum will host a presentation on “Climate Change and World Security” with Marc Levy at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Coykendall Science Building auditorium on campus.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available at 5 p.m. outside the auditorium.

Marc Levy serves as deputy director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Levy will speak on climate change trends and how they impact the stability of nations and the well-being of populations.

Levy said there is growing recognition that climate change can have significant impact on world security, particularly in regions that are already prone to instability. Multi-year droughts, rising sea levels and increasing temperatures are climate change trends affecting food and water resources, and the health and well-being of populations around the world. For example, the greatest number of people exposed to sea-level rise is in China, the Philippines, Egypt and Indonesia. China and the Philippines alone have 64 million people in the lowest elevation zones (1 meter above sea level).

Levy has published on environmental sustainability indicators, environment-security connections and the effectiveness of international environmental institutions. The common thread running through his work is a desire to deepen our ability to understand and manage the complex interactions between humans and their environment.

Levy leads CIESIN’s work on climate-security connections, conflict early warning, environmental sustainability indicators and poverty mapping. He serves as lead project scientist of the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, and was a convening lead author for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Levy is currently serving as a convening lead author for the UN Environment Program’s Fourth Global Environmental Outlook. Before coming to CIESIN, Levy had teaching appointments at Princeton University and Williams College.

Gerald Benjamin, director of the CRREO and associate vice president for regional engagement, said “CRREO is delighted to be partnering with the World Affairs Council to bring this distinguished speaker on an issue of world importance to our region.”

For more information or to request a sign language interpreter, contact Helise Winters at (845) 257-2906.

The event is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley, the Gillespie Forum and the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz.

The center serves as the principal locus of the college’s efforts to raise its level of engagement within communities, government and businesses across the Hudson Valley.

For more information about the Center, visit www.newpaltz.edu/crreo.