TIP/Climate change experts

Dec. 3, 2009

TO: Editors, news directors
FROM: Jenny Price, University Communications, 608-262-8296
RE: TIP/CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

Representatives of more than 190 nations will gather in Copenhagen on Monday, Dec. 7, for two weeks of talks to seek a consensus on an international strategy for fighting global warming. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at the climate change conference, offering to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Jonathan Patz, a UW–Madison professor and international expert on the health effects of climate change, says the benefits of slowing climate change range from better air quality and physical fitness to less insect and water-borne disease outbreaks.

“More sustainable energy and transportation policies will have substantial public health benefits,” says Patz, who shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. “For example, 60 percent of Americans do not get enough exercise. If we ‘green’ our transportation systems, we will all be the healthier for it.”

UW-Madison has a number of experts, including Patz, who can discuss both the Copenhagen conference and the effects of climate change.

Dominique Brossard, associate professor of life sciences communication, 608-262-0482, dbrossard@wisc.edu. Brossard is an expert on public understanding of science and public attitudes toward controversial science and can comment on public opinion and communication matters related to climate change.
Chris Kucharik, assistant professor of agronomy with the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, 608-263-1859, kucharik@wisc.edu. Kucharik is an expert on climate change and can discuss climate projections he has developed for the state of Wisconsin. He is available for comment Dec. 4 and 5 but will be traveling next week.
John Magnuson, professor emeritus of zoology and limnology, 608-262-3010, jjmagnus@wisc.edu. Magnuson can discuss adaptation to climate change impacts, especially in the Great Lakes region, and effects on fish, freshwater lakes and streams, as well as invasive species.
Gregory Nemet, assistant professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, 608-265-3469, nemet@wisc.edu. Nemet is an expert on international environmental policy and his teaching and research are focused on improving understanding of the environmental, social, economic and technical dynamics of the global energy system.
Jonathan Patz, professor of environmental studies and population health, 608-262-4775, patz@wisc.edu. Patz is an international expert on the health effects of climate change and a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that won the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore. He recently received a research grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the first Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant to study public health issues caused by climate events in Wisconsin.

Find more climate experts in our UW–Madison Experts Guide.

For more background on Climate Change, check out this “Office Hours” episode on the Big Ten Network, hosted by political scientist Ken Goldstein and produced by students in his class. The episode features professors Tom Eggert from the Wisconsin School of Business and Dan Vimont in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, who discuss climate change and the implications national legislation could have on people’s everyday lives and the U.S. economy.