Big Oil and Our First
Climate Change Refugees
April 23, 2012
4:30pm - Alice Statler Auditorium
Peter Matthiessen takes us on a journey to Arctic Alaska, where climate change is the new reality. In this fragile ecosystem, potentially severe negative effects of large-scale fossil fuel development—especially offshore prospecting and drilling—are already taking their toll on the Arctic sea ice and permafrost, on Arctic wildlife, and on indigenous peoples such as the coastal Inupiat and the Gwich'in Dene ("caribou people").
Matthiessen's sobering conclusions are based on his travels in Alaska over many years and his conversations with these peoples in the course of research journeys to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Prudhoe Bay, the Ututok Plateau in the vast National Petroleum Reserve, and some small beleaguered communities on the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts, whose inhabitants are already our first climate change refugees.
About Peter Matthiessen
In the late 1950s, Peter Matthiessen published the first edition of Wildlife in America, a history of the extinction and endangerment of various animal and bird species at the hands of the human settlements that occurred throughout North American history, as well as historical efforts at endangered species protection. It was one of the first books to call attention to global warming, by mentioning how the polar ice cap formations caused the lowering of the seas, and how the isthmus that Mongoloid people crossed from Asia to present-day Alaska to establish North America's first settlement is now submerged by the Bering Strait.
Since that time, Mr. Matthiessen has written more than 30 books focusing on his personal travels, wildlife and the environment, and Native American issues and history.
Additional Events
(Contact Paula Euvrard at 255-7535 for information)
- Monday, April 23
- Featured Classroom Visit
8:40–9:55am, G08 Uris
History 1147 Writing Seminar 101
(seating is limited, but available) - Graduate Student Luncheon
12:30–2:00pm
Hosted by the Department of English.
(advanced registration required)
- Tuesday, April 24
- Featured Classroom Visit
10:10–11:00am, 250 Caldwell
AIS 1121 Writing Seminar 101
(seating is limited, but available)
About the Iscol Lecture
The Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture brings prominent scholars, newsmakers, scientists, and leaders to Cornell to address environmental issues of paramount importance to humankind. Recognizing scholarship on the frontiers of scientific inquiry, the Iscol Lecture provides opportunities for Cornell students, faculty, staff, and the public to gain new knowledge about pressing environmental issues and enriches the intellectual character of the university and the community. A faculty award committee, representing a cross-section of academic disciplines, annually selects the Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecturer.
You may also wish to read coverage of the 2011, 2010, and previous Iscol Lectures.
