The Big Climate Event

We were thrilled to have 700+ people at The Big Climate Change Event on February 19, 2020! Featuring an incredible presentation by Dr. Rob Davies, this event kick-started a new sense of urgency for climate action in our community.

Let's do what's necessary to address the climate emergency. It's about RESOLVE.

Watch Rob Davies' full presentation - even more relevant today - and the whole evening show, below.

Thanks to Phoebe Bean for photos from the event (above) and the cool time lapse of Missoulian's packing the Wilma theater (below)

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February 2021 - The Big Climate Event, 1 Year Later

On February 24, 2020 Dr. Rob Davies presented Disruption at the "Big Climate Change Event." Scroll down to watch (or re-watch!) his phenomenal presentation. Rob joined us one year later - via zoom - to discuss what the future holds for our climate and us, and what we can do to change the system. Read the Missoula Current recap of this 2021 virtual event here. And the Audio is below.

Act, Advocate & Assist - this is the frame we took away from the Big Event, and it holds today. Resolve to take the next step, then the next, whatever that might be.

(Re-)Watch Davies' original presentation below, read our 2020 blog post, or listen to the audio of the "1 Year Later" zoom call - it jumps right in as Amy's getting the call rolling.

Rob suggested we look into the work of Kate Raworth. Her thoughts are described well here: Downscaling the Doughnut to the City Scale.
Should we create a City Portrait for Missoula?

Watch the Big Climate Change Event + more about speaker Dr. Rob Davies

And here's the full Feb 19 evening presentation at the Wilma:

The Big Climate Change Event was brought to you by Climate Smart Missoula, Missoula County, City of Missoula, Clearwater Credit Union, Providence St. Patrick Hospital, and the University of Montana's Office of Sustainability.

We thank Logjam Presents for generous in-kind support . Thanks also to all our volunteers, tablers, cookie-bakers and of course, Missoula Grain and Vegetable for carrots. We love #carrotsfortheclimatecause.

Thanks also to MCAT for filming Dr. Davies' presentation so we can share it with you.

About Professor Rob Davies
Robert Davies is a physicist and noted science communicator whose work focuses on complexity, global change and human vibrancy. Over the past decade Rob has delivered hundreds of public lectures ― to policymakers, business leaders, civic organizations and faith communities ― and his “performance science” theatrical collaboration The Crossroads Project | Rising Tide has been performed across the U.S. Dr. Davies has served as a scientific liaison for NASA on the International Space Station Project; as a project scientist with USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory; and an officer and meteorologist in the United States Air Force. Rob is currently Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Utah State University’s Department of Physics, in Logan, Utah.

DISRUPTION: DEFINING RADICAL IN THE AGE OF HUMANS - from the words of Dr. Davies:

The BAD news…  60% of Earth’s wildlife has disappeared in the past forty years.  99% of Earth’s coral reefs will likely be gone within two decades; and  humanity’s disruption of the planetary climate is accelerating toward thresholds of extreme risk.  There's more, of course....

The GOOD news…  The human systems driving this situation… are going away. Humanity’s systems of food, energy, and economy require more resources than Earth can provide. The likelihood that these systems of ecological devastation will persist, for even a few more decades, is essentially zero.

The BAD news…  We exist in a state of planetary emergency.  The party’s raging and we’re nowhere close to to meeting the challenge.

The GOOD news…  We haven’t really tried.  We have what we need to move toward a sustainable, just, and vibrant space for humanity.  With courage and resolve, we stand on the edge of extraordinary achievement.  Let’s try.