Climate Change Series: About

With increasing reports of extreme weather and headlines about 2012 being the warmest year on record, climate change can no longer be ignored.

This spring Cognoscenti teams up with the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs at Northeastern University to bring you a series we’re calling Climate Change. Challenges. Solutions.

Each week we will focus on one aspect of climate change. Experts in that area will offer the latest knowledge and advice on questions such as: How much do humans influence climate change? To what extent will greenhouse gas emissions need to be curbed, and how? Or, is it too late to make a difference and should we begin to adapt to new climate conditions? What are the national security implications?

We will examine these and other questions from the perspectives of science, technology, policy, law and ethics and through the voices of leaders from the research and practitioner communities.

Northeastern’s Joan Fitzgerald explains the program at the core of the partnership. WBUR’s Iris Adler explains Cognoscenti’s role — and what it aims to achieve.

Joan Fitzgerald is interim dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and is author of "Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development."

The Open Classroom is a program of the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs at Northeastern University devoted to inviting the Greater Boston community free-of-charge to share in some of the intellectual richness of the university and brilliant scholars and experts throughout the nation.

This spring semester we're turning our attention to the environment. Each Wednesday evening, we feature guest speakers who are experts on different aspects of climate policy. Topics include renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear power, fracking, national security, geo-engineering, adaptation to sea-level rise and implications for the food supply.

Iris Adler is WBUR's program manager. She oversees Cognoscenti.

After the success of our Advice To The Next President series this fall, we’ve decided to partner with Northeastern again to address what noted environmentalist Bill McKibben calls “the most important story of our time”: climate change.

Cognoscenti’s mission is to bring the most informed and thoughtful voices to our readers, and we are pleased that Northeastern has again gathered an impressive group of experts from a wide variety of disciplines to address this critical issue facing the country.

Our readers benefit from high quality content, and we are thrilled to bring those important voices beyond the classroom to our online audience. So every Wednesday, check out Cognoscenti, and read what leading experts are saying about important policy considerations in the climate change challenge.

This series brought to you by: