Anote's Ark film screening & lecture by climate chaos impact researcher Mike Roman

When Oct 24, 2019
from 06:00 PM to 09:00 PM
Where Strickler 101
Contact Name
Contact Phone (502) 415-8767
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Come learn about the devastating effects of climate change on island nations and what you can do to help!

The Engage. Lead. Serve. Board's Green Initiatives will bring to campus this special screening of the award-winning documentary Anote's Ark, and the man whose dissertation research informed the film, Mike Roman of the University of Cincinnati.

Most people have never heard of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau, The Marshall Islands or the Maldives; some of the most beautiful nations in the world! However, due to climate change, they are predicted to be some of the first to disappear from this planet within the next few decades.

Our speaker, Mike Roman has family and friends in these nations, and to many there, climate change is not a distant future or some academic exercise; it is life and death, here and now. These island nations have already lost countless children and elders to the impacts of climate change, and they experience this every king tide, typhoon, drought, and heat wave. Elders in Kiribati have been warning world leaders about these incidents for nearly 30 years now, and in 2000, Mike picked up the mantel and dedicated his life to educating the world. His work inspired the documentary which will be screened before his lecture and Q&A.

Premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Anote's Ark, focuses on the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati (population: 100,000). It is one of the most remote places on the planet, seemingly far-removed from the pressures of modern life. Yet it is one of the first countries that must confront the main existential dilemma of our time: imminent annihilation from sea-level rise.

While Kiribati’s President Anote Tong races to find a way to protect his nation’s people and maintain their dignity, many Kiribati are already seeking safe harbour overseas.Set against the backdrop of international climate and human rights negotiations, Anote’s struggle to save his nation is intertwined with the extraordinary fate of Tiemeri, a young mother of six, who fights to migrate her family to New Zealand. At stake is the survival of Tiemeri’s family, the Kiribati people, and 4,000 years of Kiribati culture.

This is a UofL Sustainability Week event!