Tallahassee's Backwoods Bistro is again the scene for a free series of public policy forums this year, sponsored by the FSU College of Social Science and Public Policy.
Tuesday night's opening forum featured one of the nation's top experts on climate change. The thermometer in Tallahassee had just hit 100 degrees, and FSU Geography Department Head Jim Elsner warned many more such days are coming as the planet heats up. For those who want proof, he pointed to the increased severity of storms and other extreme weather events.
"I think hurricanes are one of the phenomenon that is pretty easy to connect to climate change because the source of their energy is the warm ocean," he commented.
But Elsner wasn't all gloom and doom in his talk. He told the standing room-only crowd that there is hope.
"We know that we can change the course," he insisted. "We can make personal changes and make our politicians think about things other than funding fossil fuel companies."
The next Policy Pub lecture, with Sociology Professor Matthew Hauer on Sea Level rise, happens October 15th, also at Backwoods Bistro.
