Environmental Risks to Humanity

Many believe that Climate change poses potentially-catastrophic environmental risks to humanity and students were given a chance to explore this vital issue at the second annual DGS Science Symposium on 23 October.

Year 10 Separate Science classes and Geographers were joined by SBS students for a morning of challenging and thought-provoking talks from professionals in this field.

• Richard Clarke (Predict Ability Ltd) spoke about using climate science based financial tools to price the damage due to CO₂ released into the atmosphere.
• Tim Newbold (UCL) discussed the impacts of habitat loss and climate change on biodiversity.  
• On a more positive note, Sugandha Srivastav (Oxford University) explained how we can all act to combat climate change
• Moritz Schwartz (Oxford University) gave a broad overview of how the international approach to solving climate change has changed over time; thinking about justice considerations in international climate policy.

It was a privilege to hear directly from Climate Scientists and Economists who are at the forefront of their fields and for our students to be able to ask questions and discuss ideas with them.

Comments from students after the event included:

• “It was interesting and engaging, especially the part about the bumble bees!”
• “Dr Srivastav’s talk was very relevant to us and our age group.”  “She was a great role model.”

We would like to thank Kasia Lewis and the Oxford International Biomedical Centre who enabled us to host this Scientists in Schools event.

Dr Nickerson