CAN NEW TECHNOLOGY SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT?

Tues, Sept 9,16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2014. 10:45 AM to 12:15,  RISE PowerPoint talks

1. Nature’s beauty versus its utility.

    I will show photos of nature’s beauty with Thoreau quotes. The forces of spiritual values coupled with knowledge of the earth sciences can hopefully lead to a new global ethic to conserve nature’s beauty for future generations.

2.  Can new technology save us in time? Limits to Growth: Food Crash. The MIT-authored book, Limits to Growth, projects an economic and food-per-capita collapse. Written in 1972, predictions for the population explosion, water shortages, and non-renewable resource depletion have been accurate to date. Can we afford higher food prices?

3. Global Warming: Why Be Concerned?

    The costs of weather extremes from floods, hurricanes,  droughts, & wildfires are increasing. Rising temperatures are melting Greenland and Antarctica, and flooding coastal cities. (See Economic Risks of Climate, June 2014, http://riskybusiness.org)

4. Data supporting anthropogenic global warming.

    The scientific evidence is that the main cause of global warming is greenhouse gas emissions coming from our burning fossil fuels.

5. Technology and policies are available to save us.

    Non-polluting electric cars now get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon. The cost of solar PV cell electricity is now $0.08 per kWh, half what we buy from the grid. Carbon emissions tax? Northern Pass hydropower from Quebec & NIMBY. Pollution from fracking?

Paul H. Carr, BS, MIT; Ph.D., Brandeis, IEEE Fellow, taught the 2010 RISE (Rivier Institute for Senior Education) course Beauty in Science and Spirit, also the title of his book.  He taught similar courses at U Mass Lowell. From 1967 to 1995, he led a branch of the AF Research Laboratory, which pioneered the development of compact SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) filters used in cell phones, TV, and radar.  His web page is www.MirrorOfNature.org