Academy Town Square presents: Preparing for a Warmer, Wetter Philadelphia

Thursday, July 29, 2021

7:00 PM-8:00 PM

Join us for Preparing for a Warmer, Wetter Philadelphia, an Academy Town Square presented in partnership with the Drexel Climate Year Speaker Series.

Climate change is causing Philadelphia not only to heat up, but also to experience more frequent and intense flooding events. In this program we’ll explore how local communities are dealing with increasing temperatures exacerbated by the urban heat island effect; natural cycles of flooding; and how urbanization and climate change impact flooding risks in our city. But where there are challenges, there are people ready to step up and face them. Find out how, from community groups to city government, Philadelphians are making efforts to understand and mitigate the effects of a warmer, wetter Philadelphia.

This Academy Town Square is being presented in coordination with the exhibition of Gideon Mendel: Drowning World at the Academy. The exhibition features 37 photographs, two found-object displays and a video by leading contemporary photographer Gideon Mendel, a native of Johannesburg, South Africa. Mendel began photographing major floods in 2007 when one in the United Kingdom and another in India occurred within two weeks of each other. Their proximity struck him as a shared vulnerability that seemed to unite people. This unique photographic exploration of flooding offers a stark portrayal of the human condition within the context of overwhelming climate events around the world. The exhibition includes color images of some of the poorest and wealthiest communities on the planet, all exposed to the floodwater that envelops them.

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Moderator: Roland Wall: Director of the Patrick Center for Environmental Research, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Speakers:

• Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz: Meteorologist, NCB10’s First Alert Weather Team
• Jasmin Velez: Community Outreach Coordinator,Esperanza
• Mark Sabaj: Collection Manager of Fishes, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
• Julia Rockwell: Manager of the Climate Change Adaptation Program, Philadelphia Water Department