Monthly lecture of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society on Climate Change and our responsibility

The monthly lecture of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society will take place today at the BMICH on the theme of "Climate Change and our responsibility."

Climate change has been the biggest environmental challenge since Industrial Revolution.  Carbon dioxide concentration on earth has increased by about 40 percent since industrial revolution, and the mean temperature rise since then has reached ~1 0C. 

The observed warming on earth has been attributed to the increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases due to various anthropogenic activities including fossil fuel burning and land use changes. 

The focus on the issue of climate change has increased during the last few decades due to the irreversible impacts it has caused across the world. For Sri Lanka, it has become increasingly relevent with the country being identified as one of the major hotspots (according to a report by the World Bank) with some 4 million people in the country being projected to be severely affected by 2020.

The response to those impacts includes international, national, and local level action.  How far can such response from us would help reduce climate change or its impacts?  What responsibility lies ahead of us to minimize the impacts of climate change on future generations and what immediate action is needed to make it a better world?  The answers depend on how serious we are about this issue, our attitude/s and our commitment. 

The lecture is being conducted by Dr. Erandathie Lokupitiya. 

Dr. Lokupitiya has a Ph.D. in Ecology, focusing on climate change and estimation of greenhouse gas emissions.  She obtained her Ph.D. from Colorado State University, USA, and served as a Research Scientist at the Department of Atmospheric Science of the same university before she joined the University of Colombo in 2012.

Dr.  Lokupitiya has been working as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences of University of Colombo, and she has been teaching Environmental Science related subjects including climate change and environmental management.

Currently she is the principal investigator of several national and regional scale projects concerning climate change impacts, mitigation. adaptation, greenhouse gas inventorying and carbon footprint analysis.  Currently she is serving as the National Expert for preparation of the Greenhouse gas Inventory under the Third National Communication by Sri Lanka.

The lecture will take place today at  6pm at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society Monthly Lecture is open to all members and non-members, admission free