David Campbell Earth Day Event

Biology professor David Campbell kicks off Earth Week events with his lecture, “Will China Save the World?” at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 21, in Noyce Science Center Room 2022.

“China is the poster child for global climate change,” notes Campbell, Henry R. Luce Professor of Nations and the Global Environment. “China is home to 20 percent of the human population. Among nations, it is the world’s largest contributor of greenhouse-forcing gases; it can’t feed itself; it has a vast, densely-populated coastline that is subject to catastrophic tropical cyclones; at any particular time, about a third of China’s territory is subject to periodic drought induced by the El Niño/Southern Oscillation; the Himalayan ice pack that irrigates southwestern China is rapidly disappearing; and the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts are expanding from the north.”   

A “greenhouse” world would be profoundly destabilizing to China’s future, but that nation’s response to climate change remains in question. In his presentation, Professor Campbell will address the provocative question, “Will this ancient civilization steer us away from impending environmental disaster? The fate of the world depends on the answer.”

Professor Campbell’s presentation and other Earth Week activities are co-sponsored by a coalition of programs, committees, and groups on campus, including the environmental studies concentration, Student Environmental Committee (SEC), Center for Prairie Studies, Sustainability Committee, Coalition for Environmental Activists, Local Foods Co-op, and others. 

Visit the Center for Prairie Studies for more on local events.