Friends Of Wissahickon Offer Lectures on Global Warming, Children's Connection With Nature

Friends of the Wissahickon is offering two free lectures on reducing global warming and the growing disconnection between children and nature at Chestnut Hill Library this spring.

 

These lectures are offered through FOW's Protect Our Watershed program, launched in 2006 to resolve erosion problems in the Wissahickon by identifying sources of stormwater runoff, developing educational programs for property owners, and providing conservation easements.

 

On April 29, Janet Milkman will present No Child Left Inside. "Children spend less time outdoors now than in any time in history," says Milkman. "This trend could have serious implications for children's behavioral, physical, and intellectual development." Milkman is President of ERTHNXT, a national non-profit based in Philadelphia that helps children and youth learn about and protect their environment.

 

She is former President and CEO of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania and lives in Center City with her family. Milkman will lead a discussion of the growing disconnection between children and nature, its causes and implications, and potential local and national solutions. She will also explore what this problem means for the environment and for the Wissahickon.

 

On May 27, Julie Lalo will present Doing Nothing Doesn't Do Anything! Lalo is Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative of the National Wildlife Federation and works with affiliates and partners across the region to restore and protect the diverse habitats of the Mid-Atlantic. In 2007, she was one of 1,000 volunteers trained by Al Gore to present a version of the slide show featured in the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth.

 

"Scientists have told us that we must reduce global warming pollution by 80 percent by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of global warming," says Lalo. "They have set the goal, now we have to set the pace. And each of us has a pace we can set for ourselves."

 

Both lectures will take place at the Chestnut Hill Library, 8711 Germantown Ave. at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit the Friends of the Wissahickon website or call 215-247-0417.