A gifted scientist from Owego will give a talk for a national webinar this Tuesday, Aug. 1, at 7:30 p.m. on our rapidly changing climate. Dr. Colin Evans, an OFA graduate and now a postdoctoral researcher at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, will do a webinar presentation about the latest news concerning climate change, with an opportunity for questions and answers. <\/p>\n
The Rev. Bruce Gillette, Parish Associate Pastor of the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego and Moderator of the national Presbyterians for Earth Care, will be the host for this free webinar. <\/p>\n
Owego had a “hazardous” air quality rating of 460 in the AirNow.gov rating from 1 to 500 on June 7 from the Canadian wildfires. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe world is hotter than it\u2019s been in thousands of years, and it\u2019s as if every alarm bell on Earth were ringing. The warnings are echoing through the drenched mountains of Vermont, where two months of rain just fell in only two days. India and Japan were deluged by extreme flooding. They\u2019re shrilling from the scorching streets of Texas, Florida, Spain and China, with a severe heat wave in Phoenix and the Southwest. They\u2019re burbling up from the oceans, where temperatures have surged to levels considered \u2018beyond extreme.\u2019 And they\u2019re showing up in unprecedented, still-burning wildfires in Canada that have sent plumes of dangerous smoke into the United States.\u201d (Washington Post<\/i>, July 12.) <\/p>\n
Dr. Colin Evans received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Cornell University in 2022. Dr. Evans\u2019 primary research was focused on drought, both in the Southwest and Northeast US. He now is a postdoctoral researcher at the Northeast Regional Climate Center located at Cornell University. His interests are in climate change science, education, and policy, and data visualization.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Bruce Gillette is in his second year as the volunteer Moderator for the national Presbyterians for Earth Care, a group of over 2,000-plus scientists, pastors, teachers, environmental activists, and other concerned Christians that for over 25 years have been helping churches and individuals care for God’s creation. He has been hosting monthly webinars with diverse speakers and is helping to plan a national conference on Sept. 20-23, 2023, with in-person gatherings in Virginia, Minnesota, Arkansas and California that will include 30 streaming live workshops, Bible studies, and worship services.<\/p>\n