MIT Professor Kerry Emanuel will begin by reviewing the evidence that we are indeed entering a new epoch in Earth's climate history and then discuss the challenges it presents for civilization. Among these challenges is the increased incidence of high-intensity hurricanes, which even today are the leading cause of insured losses among all natural disasters. There will be discussion about his group's research on this important and interesting phenomenon, including ideas on how their activity may change over the next century.

The Planets and Life: Human and planetary perspectives lecture series is hosted by MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

The Earth’s geologic record demonstrates that the environment is naturally changing. The fossil record shows that many species did not survive major environmental changes. For a modern society to thrive, it must be aware of the grand planetary changes that can occur over hundreds to millions of years. Perhaps equally important is our genetic flexibility to adapt. In this multi- disciplinary course, a series of lectures and panel discussions will explore the grand environmental changes – from a natural planetary perspective – that might endanger the survival of the species Homo sapiens. We will investigate: 1. Planetary processes that have the greatest capability to significantly alter our environment on short and long timescales, based on both our knowledge of Earth’s history and our theoretical understanding of planet evolution. We will study processes between the deep interior (e.g., volcanism, tectonics), the surface (e.g., desiccation, glaciation, erosion), the oceans (e.g., acidity, ocean volume), the atmosphere (e.g., ozone hole, oxygen levels, pollution), and the biosphere (e.g., new metabolic pathways). 2. How adaptable humans are to environmental changes based on our history as a species and our genetic adaptability. 3. How much we as a species can negatively or positively impact the crucial planetary processes that are necessary for our own survival.