Walden Warming: an online lecture by Richard Primack
May 18, 7 – 9 pm on Zoom (Registration info below)
Most people know Henry David Thoreau as a writer and botanist, but he was also a climate-change scientist! And, more importantly, what would Thoreau tell us to do about global warming if he were alive today?
Join us for a fascinating discussion with acclaimed author and Boston University Professor Richard Primack on the local impacts of climate change. For the past 17 years, Professor Primack and his team at BU have been using Thoreau’s records from the 1850s and other Massachusetts data sources to document the earlier flowering and leafing out times of plants, the earlier flight times of butterflies, and the more variable response of migratory birds. Most noteworthy, plants in Concord are also changing in abundance due to a warming climate. This work has received extensive media coverage as an example of the biological effects of climate change, and is now being extended to the neglected autumn season.
As a primer for the May 18th lecture, Milton Library’s executive director Will Adamczyk will lead an online discussion of Primack’s book Walden Warming on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00pm. Pre-registration is required.
To receive the link and log-in information for both the online May 13th book discussion and the May 18th lecture, register on the Milton Library’s website: miltonlibrary.org or call 617-333-0924.
Co-sponsored by the Wakefield Estate, the Milton Public Library, and the Blue Hills Climate Action Coalition.
