Our featured presenter for the month of October is Joel B. Smith, presenting on “Some Surprises about Greenhouse Gas Emissions”.
Joel has a remarkable record of research and advising on climate change issues. He was a coordinating lead author or lead author on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He conceived and led development of the IPCC “Burning Embers,” which identifies global temperature increases that are expected to lead to adverse climate change impacts. Mr. Smith was an author on three U.S. National Climate Change Assessments (NCA), including Chapter Lead on the International Chapter for the fourth NCA. He was Chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee to Review the 5th NCA, completed in 2023. He is a member of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Global Change Research Program and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences “Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change.” Joel was coeditor of The Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States (1989), As Climate Changes: International Impacts and Implications (1995), Adaptation to Climate Change: Assessments and Issues (1996), Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Development (2003), and The Impact of Climate Change on Regional Systems: A Comprehensive Analysis of California (2006) – just a few of his 75+ publications in the field.