The former chief scientific advisor to the British government, a scientist from the British Antarctic Survey, and the head planner of the design company behind a chinese "eco-city" (and the new Forth Bridge) are among guest speakers tackling Climate Change at the 20th Edinburgh International Science Festival.
The EISF programme, which runs from 25 March to 6 April, includes talks, walks, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings and other events that take in a range of scientific interests from astronomy to psychology. Kids' favourites such as Wonderama at the Assembly Rooms and Dr Bunhead return, while a substantial part of the 2008 EISF programme, for both adults and kids, focuses on recent scientific findings about climate change and how it will affect us in coming years.
Last year was a huge one in the battle for hearts and minds over climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), after studying 29,000 separate reports, concluded the evidence was "unequivocal" - man-made greenhouse gases are "very likely" the cause of global warming and its impact could be "abrupt and irreversible."
So it is fitting that the Edinburgh Medal address, by a scientist who has made a "significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity," should be given by Chris Rapley, who before he became head of the Science Museum in London was director of the British Antarctic Survey. The BAS was one of the pre-eminent organisations providing research on climate change for the IPCC reports.
In Great While It Lasted; Now What? (31 March, 6.30pm, McEwan Hall) Rapley will ask how humanity can reconcile itself with escalating energy consumption at the expense of the planet's health and future generations.
"How might we satisfy our wants and yet preserve the health of the planet on which we depend? What is the likelihood we will succeed?" He'll share the stage with 2006 Edinburgh Medal winner James Lovelock, the originator of the Gaia theory, who holds perhaps the starkest outlook for the earth's climate believing that we should plan not for sustainable 'development' but a sustainable 'retreat'.
Another climate change talk likely to be heavily subscribed to is The Hot Topic (Thursday 27th March, 6-7pm, National Museum of Scotland) with Sir David King, who was formerly Chief Scientific Advisor to the Blair government. He'll share some of his experience of trying to make galling emissions targets politically acceptable and offer practical suggestions for action at a personal, social and national level in the fight against climate change.
The British Antarctic Survey's Dr Geraint Tarling will also be representing the organisation at the Edinburgh Science Festival with a talk Polar Ecosystems Under Threat (Tuesday 1 April, 6-7pm, St. Cecilia's Hall), in which he will lay out the consequences of rising temperatures in the polar regions, possibly the most sensitive ecosystem in the world.
Around 27% of the UK's CO2 emissions come from household use for cooking, heating, lighting, watching television, or surfing the web. In The Green Revolution at Home (Sunday 30 March, 8-9pm, National Museum of Scotland), Andrew Peacock, Research Associate at HeriotWatt University, will explain how new technology and changes in behaviour can help bring about massive reductions in personal energy use.
As much as the Chinese government likes to proclaim its green credentials, stratospheric economic growth has come at a heavy price to the environment for the "manufacturer to the world." The question of how China, with a population of 1.3 billion people, can respond to the pressures that come with a growing affluent middle class is addressed in Dongtan Eco-City (Thursday 3 April, 6-7pm, National Museum of Scotland).
Peter Head, Head of Global Planning at design consultancy ARUP, will explain the principles behind this ambitious project to build an "eco-city" from scratch for a population equivalent to that of Edinburgh, on a huge island in the Yangtze Delta near Shanghai. Could it provide a framework for urban living elsewhere? How sustainbale is it really if, as has been reported, the new properties are being bought up by wealthy Chinese as second homes?
Incidentally, ARUP is part of a joint venture with Jacobs to design, develop and project-manage a new cable-stayed Forth bridge crossing.
Tapping Energy
After a period of excessive hype about how bio-energy will revolutionise transport and take a chunk out of global greenhouse gas emissions, in the last year we've begun to see its negative impacts with rising food costs as grain is diverted from table to petrol tank and a growing awareness that bio-fuels can actually have a larger carbon footprint than oil.
In A Green Future in Bioenergy? (Thursday 3 April, 8-9pm, National Museum of Scotland) a panel of scientists will separate the fact from the fiction in this oft misunderstood, intriguing source of energy. On the panel will be Professor David Ingram, Honorary Professor and Advisor on Public Understanding of Science (University of Edinburgh); Dr Jeffrey A McNeely, Chief Scientist (IUCN: The World Conservation Union) and Professor David Klug, Professor of Chemical Biophysics and Chair of the Chemical Biology Centre (Imperial College London).
One of the most abundant sources of alternative energy could come from the sea. In New Horizons in Wave and Tidal Energy (Wednesday 2 April 8.30-9.30pm, National Museum of Scotland) Professor Robin Wallace, Head of Institute for Energy Systems (School of Engineering and Electronics, University of Edinburgh) will discuss how Scotland with no lack of wind, wave and tidal energy is exploiting these energy sources, and the challenges of wave and tidal energy faced here and in China.
As predictions that the weather will be more erratic as a result of global warming come true then the services of our weather forecasters are becoming increasingly vital. In Forecasting Flash Floods and Hurricanes (Saturday 5 April, 4-5pm, National Museum of Scotland) Professor Mike Cullen, Manager of Data Assimilation Research and Development Group (The Met Office) will talk about the challenges of prediction using the world's fastest supercomputers and mathematical modelling.
A couple of talks focus on the intersection of technogology and the natural world. In Systems Biology:The Software of Life? (Wednesday 26 March, 8-9pm, National Museum of Scotland), Professor Muffy Calder, Professor of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow, talks about the remarkable parallels between cells and computers.
In The Plants that Made the World (Saturday 29 March, 6-7pm, National Museum of Scotland), Science Communicator and TV Presenter Dr Marty Jopson, suggests that plants may have civilised humans rather than the other way round. Why does cotton make such remarkably good clothing? Can you tell the difference between synthetic vanilla and he real thing? These questions answered with "samples to taste, live microscopy and balls of fire."
Botanics Programme
The climate change theme continues at the Royal Botanic Garden Exhition Hall and Lecture Theatre with a series of family events looking at what climate change is and how individuals can "do their bit" from eating food "with zero air miles" to watching your watts, from turning kitchen scraps into garden compost to discussing with others the potential benefits of global warming.
There are three ticketed climate change talks for adults in the Botanics lecture theatre.
In Ark in Space (3 April, 7pm), Dr Marek Kukula looks at how planet Earth has been shaped by events in space.
Designing Better Buildings (4 April, 7pm) with Donald Canavan of the Hurdrolland Partnership and Richard Atkins, Chair of the Scottish Ecological Design Association, asks how we can improve our buildings to save energy.
The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History (1 April, 7pm), with Professor David Beerling, looks at how plants have adapted over their 470 million year lifetime and how they shape and interact with their environment.
The Botanics are open daily from 10am to 7pm throughout the Festival. Admission is Free although some activities have a charge.
Ticket prices for talks range from £4 to £8 and can be bought direct from the Edinburgh International Festival.