Science Talk: Which Comes First: Peak Everything or Peak Us?

Most people alive today will witness a momentous juncture in the history of the human species – the point when explosive growth in human numbers and appetites peaks and is followed by … no one knows. Join prize-winning journalist Andrew Revkin to explore the question “Which Comes First: Peak Everything or Peak Us?”

According to Revkin, there are plenty of signs that the planet’s human population will peak within the next couple of generations. There are even signs that resource-sapping activities will soon hit a peak. Are humans capable of influencing which comes first? “Decisions made today about energy, education, urban design and other matters can help smooth the transition,” Revkin says, “but business as usual will almost assuredly lead to unnecessary losses.” And there are a host of unanswered questions concerning how all this will play out.

Revkin is a prize-winning journalist, online communicator and author who has spent more than 25 years covering subjects ranging from the assault on the Amazon to the Asian tsunamis, from the troubled relationship of science and politics to climate change at the North Pole. From 1995 through 2009 he covered the environment for The New York Times and still writes his Dot Earth blog for their Op-Ed section. He has his own YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/revkin). Revkin has produced more than 500 magazine and newspaper stories, two books, a prize-winning Discovery-Times documentary titled “Arctic Rush,” and hundreds of posts on his blog. In 2008, he became the first science writer to receive one of journalism’s top honors, the John Chancellor Award, for more than two decades of pioneering coverage of the science and politics of global warming.

Prior to the presentation, from 6 to 7pm, meet and talk with students from Triangle area universities and learn about their varied research projects. Revkin’s visit to Raleigh is made possible in part by “Earth: The Operators’ Manual” (ETOM), a TV+online+on-site education and outreach project on climate change and renewable energy supported by National Science Foundation.

Revkin will also be speaking at this month's Science Café, Tuesday night, January 17 at 7pm at Tir Na Nog.