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WILKES-BARRE — An ambassador to the United Nations charged Wilkes University students with taking leadership roles in stemming the tide of global warming during a presentation on Thursday.
Odo Tevi, representing the small island of Vanuatu near Australia, said although smaller nations were more directly impacted by the effects of climate change in the short term, in the long term, the problem was a global one, affecting health, safety and economics.
Tevi said many concerned with the issue were waiting for President Donald Trump’s administration to take shape to have a better understanding of what policies would be implemented in regard to the issue.
Kyle Snyder-Strawser, a sophomore political science major, said he believed that Trump may back out of the Paris Agreement, an pact among member nations of the United Nations to mitigate greenhouse gases and emissions in an effort to address the negative impact of climate change.
Snyder-Strawser said he has been thrilled since the agreement became reality in 2015, but he thinks that the current administration now views it as putting unnecessary restrictions on business.
Linda Winkler, professor of Anthropology at the university, said she has seen close up the effects of global warming.
Winkler, involved with a project in East Africa, said when she visited the country last July, she found the county was ill affected by global warming.
Winkler said annual rains had abated early due to the phenomena, and resulted in a reduction in crops harvested.
Brian Whitman, associate professor of environmental engineering, said data shows that global warming is a reality.
“People don’t understand the difference between weather and climate,” he said. “Weather is what you see outside now, climate is global.”
Daniel Whitman, a sophomore at Crestwood High School who came to the presentation with his dad, said he was most struck by the fact that sea water levels are up, threatening coastal areas of the United States.
Sophomore Allison Wallace, an education major, said she fears the Trump administration will fail to address the issue.
“This is not something that should be overlooked or disregarded,” she said. “This affects the future.”
