Justin Robertson
News Reporter

Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer captivated faculty and students during a lecture at Lakeshore, arguing ways  to cut 80 per cent of greenhouse emissions by 2030.

Dyer, who has also worked as a columnist, broadcaster and speaker on international affairs for more than 20 years, mentioned that colleges need to get their act together in terms of the way they use energy.

“The way information on climate change gets incorporated into courses, discussions and political activism is important in terms of educating the students,” said Dyer.

The lecture, aptly titled The Climate Wars, was part of a college initiative called The Robert A. Gordon Lecture Series, which began eight years ago.

Humber president John Davies said the series was implemented to create an opportunity for broader issues to be discussed and to help build  a community of scholars. 

“What I like is the fact that the president, teachers, students are all part of the audience. It brings the academic community together,” said Davies.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that the average global temperature will be between 2 degrees Celsius and 6.4 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century. In the lecture, Dyer argued the time to reduce greenhouse gases is much less than what their data has shown.

“We live in an energy intensive world and it’s hard to stop what are doing,” said Dyer. “The denial of climate change is over and we have to start looking for different ways to cut emissions.”

The basic premise of dealing with global warming dramatically in a short time frame proved to have an impact on  Davies in terms of what he learnt from Dyer and  how dire the issues were that he raised.

“It was very unsettling to listen to the different scenario’s that were raised,” said Davies. “It caused me to really think about what I personally can do in terms of reducing carbon output, in my life and in the broader college sector.”

Throughout the lecture Dyer made some damning statements of how violent situations involving nuclear weapons could arise as a result of changing rainfall patterns and cautioned that real emergency measures will have to be put in place to buy us more time to cut emissions that affect us all.

“It doesn’t mean a radical change of lifestyle. What we need to do is achievable,” said Dyer. “Right now our climate is positioned as students would be at mid-terms. There is still time for us globally to improve before the final exams.”

Dyer, who is working on his book Climate Wars, set for release later this year, identified students as an important group who should take an active role in voting in the right people to help cutting emissions.
“Its’ going to be an interesting ride for the next 20 years.”