Sir David King spoke at the joint Geographical & Environmental Societies' meeting on the problems and opportunities of climate change.
Sir David King is a professor and chemist who has had considerable experience with issues of climate change and its effects on the global population. In his talk, Sir David drew on his extensive experience with scientific and environmental policy as the UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000 to 2007. His science-based approach to his environmental work was evident, as he stressed the importance of climate change models for prediction and prevention. He also explored the interesting geographical concept of arctic currents, a factor in determining the spread of the Earth’s surface temperature.
Sir David also spoke about his collaboration with international governments on the research paper: ‘Climate change, a risk assessment’. The paper was co-authored by notable environmental policy-makers such as Daniel Schrag, Qi Ye and Arunabha Ghosh. His international exploits eventually culminated in the Global Apollo Program, a scheme launched in 2015, calling for developed nations to commit 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years in order to foster innovations in renewable energy sources.
Finally, he spoke about the emergence of new sustainable projects such as the Varialift Airships, a form of air transport not reliant on fossil fuels. Sir David hoped that the increasing focus on finding renewable sources of energy would lead to a future in which the mankind could make progress without sacrificing a sustainable future for generations to come.
Vernon Li
