RESILIENCE: A Community Conference on “Decoding the Weather Machine”

The Earth is a weather machine composed of four elements: land, air, water, and ice. Climate scientists warn that pollution, the rise in temperatures around the globe, and the removal of our forests are dangerously changing the planet’s delicate balance, but emphasize that it’s not too late to rewrite the future.

The virtual conference will be divided into three parts: at-home viewing of “Decoding the Weather Machine,” virtual lectures from experts featured in the film as well as local leaders sharing their data and observations, and virtual breakout community discussion groups. Lunch and refreshment breaks are provided.

Tentative Conference Schedule:

• Prior to the conference: At-home viewing of “Decoding the Weather Machine” film (click HERE)
• 11:00 am – 11:45 am: presentation by Waleed Abdalati, PhD, Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder and live Q&A
  • Topic of discussion: Earth’s changing ice cover, sea level rise, and the technology used to measure changing ice cover and sea level rise, as well as effective ways to present this information to planners, decision-makers, and policy-makers
• 11:45 am – 12:30 pm: Colonel Jason E. Kelly, South Atlantic Division Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and live Q&A
  • Topic of discussion: climate change and national security
• 12:30 pm- 1:00 pm: Lunch break 
• 1:00 pm – 1:45 pm: presentation by James O’Donnell, professor and Executive Director of CIRCA – CT Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaption at UCONN, on local initiatives to mitigate climate change and live Q&A
• 1:45 pm – 2:15 pm: Breakout discussion groups
• 2:15 – 2:30: Goodbyes and additional resources to stay connected

Speaker bios forthcoming.

This program is a part of the monthly series, “Resilience.” New Canaan Library is a proud recipient of the American Library Association’s “Resilient Communities” grant and has partnered with New Canaan Land Trust and Planet New Canaan to organize public programming focused on the themes of the films, “Fire and Flood: Queer Resilience in the Era of Climate Change” and “Decoding the Weather Machine.” These programs provide a fascinating window into what you thought you knew about climate change, and inspire participants to take local action to mitigate its consequences. Community members will be invited to learn from individuals and organizations that will share both local and national data and perspectives.