While man may have created global warming, the problem is too significant to be solved by lifestyle changes, said Dr. Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences to an audience almost filling LabSci 300 to capacity Monday afternoon.

Cicerone, introduced by Chancellor Mark Wrighton to about 300 peer scientists, students and other members of the Washington University community, said the problem of global warming will not go away on its own.

And while individual people may try to make a difference, he doubts that such small steps will be sufficient.

“I’m more optimistic about science and technology as the solution than human behavior; I don’t think human behavior is going to change fast enough, and I think science and technology can, but I don’t know how fast,” he said.

He said that while the issue of global warming has become politicized over the past few election cycles, the science alone necessitates that actual solutions be pursued.

“I think the clarity of the science is improving, partly because the charges are accelerating, they’re getting easier to see. But in terms of solutions, I don’t see much commitment yet, even with the relatively easy targets out there, [such as] money to be saved with energy efficiencies. There’s just not as much out there as I would have expected,” he said.

He noted that while people should be worried about the consequences of man’s environmental recklessness, no one knows exactly what these consequences will be or when they will appear.
“Continued dependence on fossil fuels is eventually going to lead to a very serious problem; we don’t know exactly what, but we have to get started changing our energy [sources].”

Members of the undergraduate Pathfinder program in environmental sustainability were in attendance, and many said they were pleased with how well the lecture consolidated and built off of much of what they had learned from the University.

Check back on Thursday for the full story.