Experienced educator, author, and astrophysicist Dr. Jeffrey Bennett is coming to Sonoma State University’s Darwin Hall Room 103 on Monday, Sep. 10 at 4 p.m. to enlighten college students on the basic scientific knowledge behind global warming. Additionally, this quick, free lecture is going to be just one small stepping stone in the grand path of Dr. Bennett’s “Global Warming Demystified” Tour. The book that Dr. Bennett’s tour is currently based off of, “Global Warming Primer”, is also available online for free. 

    While this lecture is primarily aimed towards people who are either curious to learn more about global warming or people who harbor suspicions regarding the topic, Dr. Bennett draws attention to the fact that this lecture is suitable for everyone. It’s even for students who have already heard everything there is to hear and have seen everything there is to see when it comes to facts behind climate change. Dr. Bennett still encourages students, faculty, and people of all ages to come with questions and comments. “Regardless of how much you do or don’t know already about this topic…” Dr. Bennett said, “[this lecture] will better prepare you to talk about this topic with friends and family… and also help you see what it’s going to take to solve the problem.” 

    What Dr. Bennett plans to cover in the upcoming talk includes a summarized version of everything that he’s studied and taught about global warming for a number of years. In fact, Dr. Bennett has been passionate about astronomy his whole life and started teaching students about global warming in 1982.

    In this upcoming lecture specifically, Dr. Bennett plans to focus on a core idea called “Global Warming 123.” Additionally, audience members can all expect Dr. Bennett to explain climate change’s possible solutions and highlight the concept that global warming’s issues are of national concern: “It’s not a political problem,” Dr. Bennett said, “it’s just a problem that we can all work on together… we know greenhouse gasses make planets warmer, we know that we’re increasing the concentration of those gasses…The idea that we’re going to get global warming is kind of an obvious conclusion.”

    Another topic that Dr. Bennett stressed during his interview with the STAR was the importance of astronomy and global warming to the college students of today. “Everything in astronomy is important. But global warming is important in a different way… [Sonoma State Students] should care because this is your future! The world you’re going to live in is going to be shaped by what you do or do not do on this issue.” In particular, Dr. Bennett emphasized the ways in which climate change is a problem that we can all solve together. Global warming, “is very directly impactful on the current generation of college students and you’re the best generation to solve it.”         

    It’s the young people,” concludes Dr. Bennett, “that have to make the efforts and make the changes to make sure that this world is the kind of world we want to live in.”