Future of planet Earth (Skip Hobbs) USofA

THE FUTURE OF PLANET EARTH: A Changing Biosphere - Humans and Global Stewardship An illustrated talk by G. Warfield “Skip” Hobbs Geologist and Conservationist

Since its creation 4.5 billion years ago, the earth has experienced constant change.

Geologic change, however, takes time – usually tens of thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Human civilization has made, and continues to make, profound changes to the earth, both to the benefit and the detriment of mankind and all other inhabitants of earth’s biosphere. This now includes changes to the chemistry and physical state of the atmosphere and oceans. Life forms have adapted to geological change through natural evolution, or have become extinct. With the exception of several cataclysmic events, the rate of global change occurring today has not previously occurred in geologic history. As the global population surges past the 7 billion mark and more and more people enter the “consumer age”, natural resource extraction, energy supply, food and water are being stretched to the limits of sustainability. What will the future bring?

Distinguished geologist Skip Hobbs will discuss how the earth’s biosphere is transforming; the importance of sustainability in natural resource extraction; climate change and the human factor; and what we can and must do as responsible citizens to deal with and mitigate these changes. The 45 minute talk is illustrated with some very dramatic PowerPoint images and supporting scientific data.

G. Warfield Hobbs IV, Curriculum Vita

G. Warfield “Skip� Hobbs is a geologist and Founder and Managing Partner of Ammonite Resources, a firm of international petroleum and mining geotechnical and business consultants which has been headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut since 1982. He is also the president of Ammonite Corporation, a private company which originates domestic and international petroleum exploration opportunities.

Hobbs holds a B.Sc. Degree in Geology from Yale College and a M.Sc. Degree in Petroleum Geology from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London. Prior to forming the Ammonite Corporation in 1980, and Ammonite Resources in 1982, he worked from 1970-1980 as an international exploration geologist for Texaco and Amerada Hess in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and lastly in New York City. Hobbs is a licensed professional geologist in Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Skip has been very active in national earth science professional society matters and energy and climate policy. He served as the elected Secretary (1993-1995) of the then 33,000 member American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and was President of the AAPG Division of Professional Affairs in 2000-2001. From 2004-2012 Hobbs served on the Executive Committee of the American Geological Institute, a federation of 50 geoscience professional societies representing over 250,000 members in every earth science discipline. He was AGI President in

2010-2011. As President-Elect, then President and Past-President of the American Geological Institute, Hobbs was a member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents in Washington, D.C., from 2009-2012, where he served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Energy and the Environment. Since 2000, Skip has been a Trustee of the New Canaan Nature Center, a not-forprofit organization that provides educational naturalist and environmental awareness programs to over 100 primary and middle schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. He is presently the President of the Board of Trustees of the New Canaan Nature Center. When not working on matters of geoscience, Hobbs manages a family farm in Massachusetts which produces heritage grass-fed beef, organic vegetables, honey, maple syrup and timber.

Skip writes and lectures frequently on energy economics and energy policy. He is a prolific “letters to the editor� contributor on conservation and open space issues in his home town of New Canaan, Connecticut.

Skip may be contacted via e-mail at <skip.hobbs@gmail.com>