On Wednesday, March 22nd at 5:30 pm in Room 108 of Rhode Island Hall, Brown University, Dr. William Fitzhugh (Smithsonian Institution) will deliver a talk entitled:

“Climate Change in the Arctic: It’s Happening Fast, and It’s Happened Before.”

Arctic archaeology reveals how patterns of climate change have both facilitated migrations and extinguished cultures and animals beginning when humans first began to live in Arctic regions 40,000 years ago. We follow these developments in northern Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland as environments and cultures changed, new technology and adaptations developed, and Arctic peoples interacted with each other and with southerners. The story of the Greenland Norse serves as an example of how humans have failed to observe signals of their impending disaster, what they could have done to avoid it, and what we should do now to avoid a similar, but global, fate.

The talk is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a brief reception. Additionally, Dr. Fitzhugh and the AIA Narragansett Society board will be going out to dinner following the lecture – members are welcome to join!

If you are planning to attend the lecture/reception, and if you are interested in joining the dinner, please fill out this RSVP form by Friday, March 17th.