Helping Boston prepare for sea level rise

WHAT: Since the Gulf of Maine is among the fastest warming bodies of water in the world, Boston faces significant challenges from the impacts of climate change. Sea level rise projections have been of particular concern around the waterfront and are an ominous sign of the impact climate change will have on the city’s people, institutions, and developments. In his presentation, “Climate Ready Boston,” Bud Ris will review newly updated projections for climate change anticipated over the next several decades and discuss a major project that the city has launched to begin planning for these changes.

WHO: Bud Ris, former New England Aquarium President and CEO, is now a Senior Advisor on Climate Change for the Barr Foundation and co-chair of the City’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness. He has been a longtime advocate and proponent of preparing for climate change with its threats to the natural world, the ocean, and cities worldwide, notably Boston. In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency honored Ris with a lifetime achievement award for his longstanding work on environmental advocacy

From 2004 to 2005, he was a Senior Fellow at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, where he led the Forum’s G-8 program on climate change for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. From 1984 through 2003, Ris served as the chief executive officer of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in Cambridge whose ongoing mission is to achieve practical solutions to environmental and national security problems.

WHEN: The free lecture takes place Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: New England Aquarium’s Simons IMAX Theatre, Central Wharf, Boston

HOW: Register online: http://support.neaq.org/site/Calendar?id=106428&view=Detail

THANKS: The Aquarium’s series of free lectures, films, and discussions is made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.