EXPERTS ADVISORY

ANN ARBOR—Federal scientists say that 2016 was the planet’s warmest year since records began in 1880. Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA determined that last year shattered the previous record, set in 2015.

The University of Michigan has several experts who can discuss the significance and implications of this record. They are:

Mark Barteau

Mark Barteau is the director of the U-M Energy Institute and the DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research in the College of Engineering. He can discuss the relationship between energy use and rising global temperatures.

“The continuing increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere represents our debt to the planet,” he said. “The carrying cost on that debt is measured not in dollars, but in degrees. We can expect to see ‘warmest’ records broken year after year until we begin to pay down that debt. Reducing the world’s consumption of fossil fuels while meeting the record energy demands of the earth’s growing population, is a challenging but essential first step.”

Contact: 734-763-7401, [email protected]

Ben Van Der Pluijm

Ben van der Pluijm is the Bruce R. Clark Collegiate Professor of Geology in the Department Earth and Environmental Sciences and former director of the U-M Global Change Program. He can discuss near-term societal resilience—related to weather, coastal lands and energy, for example—of climate change.

“We are beyond debates over future transitioning of energy sources and temperature tipping points. We need to take immediate action to protect human infrastructure from a changing normal,” he said. “Coastal cities will require relocation of neighborhoods and installations, freshwater and food supplies are challenged, inland areas have to adapt to enhanced flood-drought cycles. Proactive geo-engineering may be needed to limit these impacts of climate change. Our discussion should move from the aspirations of sustainability to actions for societal resilience.”

Contact: 734-763-0373, 734-663-9134, [email protected]

Andy Hoffman

Andy Hoffman, the Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment, serves as education director of the Graham Sustainability Institute. He can field questions about the social debate over climate change and why some people reject the scientific consensus.

“While the data shows yet another year of record temperatures, the political debate over this issue will likely remain unchanged,” he said. “Those who disbelieve the science will not be swayed by another scientific report.”

Contact: 734-763-9455, [email protected]

Joe Árvai

Joe Arvai, the Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment, is director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. His expertise is in the area of decision-making, corporate sustainability and the triple-bottom-line.

“For those of us who work on climate change, this news doesn’t come as a surprise,” he said. “Prior to 2016, 15 of the 16 warmest years on record have occurred in this new millennium. As President Obama recently said, to debate the science behind these observations, that humans are the cause of these rapid and severe climatic shifts, betrays our values as well as the generations of people that will follow us.

“However, we can and should legitimately debate how we respond to climate change. There are a lot of options on the table, each of which will have differential effects on people, the economy and the planet. I remain ever-optimistic that people, regardless of their political affiliation, can work together to chart a course that will help to save the planet and the people who live on it.”

Contact: 734-647-3891 (office), 734-834-2075 (cell), [email protected], @DecisionLab

Richard Rood

Richard Rood, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the College of Engineering, can discuss the intersections of weather and climate, and climate and society. He is a blogger at Weather Underground and teaches a class on climate change problem solving. Read his recent piece on climate change policy in the new administration: Take the Long View on Environmental Issues in the Age of Trump.

“2016 is on track to be the third record warm year in a row,” he said. “What has been especially notable about 2016 are the high Arctic temperatures. I expect that with cooling of the eastern, tropical Pacific due to the weak La Nina, 2017 will not continue the streak of record-breaking years.

Contact: 301-526-8572 (cell), [email protected]