Carolina Climate Change Seminar hosts renowned scientist

Proving human influence on global climate change was a visiting scientist’s main goal Thursday evening.

Benjamin Santer spoke to about 250 students, faculty and community members as part of the sixth annual Carolina Climate Change Seminar.

Santer, a climate scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, spoke at the FedEx Global Education Center about the scientific evidence for human influence on climate.

“The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate,” he said.

“That statement will forever be with me. That one sentence.”

Santer’s research focuses on finding specific factors that might link human influence to climate change.

He said there are natural influences on the climate, such as changes in the sun and the amount of volcanic dust in the atmosphere.

But he said there are certainly more human causes.

“I believe in facts and tested theory,” he said. “These are facts from all over the world.”

He said the 75- to 80-percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is the fault of humans.

“We know that, without a doubt,” he said. “It is not natural.”

Santer is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which seeks to advise governments worldwide of the reality of human effects on the global climate.

Santer used this platform throughout his scientific career to inform policy makers of climate science.

Four other groups around the world have also conducted similar tests on thumbprints and how they affect the climate, he said.

“They have come to the same conclusion using different methods,” Santer said.

The reports found an emerging signal of human influence in the increasing moisture content of Earth’s atmosphere.

“The physics was simple,” he said. “When you increase carbon dioxide, you increase climate change. We got that result in every case.”

As someone who has traveled the world for years, Santer said he has seen dramatic changes in the alpine environment.

“Some of the glaciers that I’ve stood on are gone,” Santer said.

“We do have the moral and ethical responsibility to recognize this.”

Brandon Rafalson, a sophomore American studies major, said he was glad he attended the lecture.

“It further solidified my confidence in global warming and gave me a better defense of global warming,” he said.

“I learned that there are an absurd amount of models that further the idea of global warming.”

Mary Frances Pace said the talk was good, though technical.

“Humans are impacting the environment and making climate change,” she said.

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