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10-12-22-perry-world-house-george-botros
Perry World House will host a speaker event, titled “Building Urban Resilience to Extreme Heat," on March 22. Credit: George Botros

The Perry World House's annual Global Shifts Colloquium begins on Wednesday and will feature a collection of speakers on climate change. 

This year's Global Shifts Colloquium theme is "Living with Extreme Heat: Our Shared Future." Two events will be held on March 22 at Perry World House, with an option to watch the discussions on Zoom. 

The day will focus on the global threat of extreme heat, its impact on our lives, and policy solutions to heat waves. 

The first event — "Building Urban Resilience to Extreme Heat" —  will be from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The panel will be moderated by Rebecca Leber, senior reporter at Vox.

The panelists include Global Chief Heat Officer to UN-Habitat Elini "Lenio" Myrivili and Chief Heat Officers Jane Gilbert, Eugenia Kargbo, Surella Segu, and Christina Huidobro Tornvall, from the United States, Sierra Leone, Mexico, and Chile, respectively.  

The officers will discuss the resilience of our urban environments to the unique challenges presented by climate change. The speakers, representing Africa, the Americas, and Europe, will also share how cities are working to combat rising temperatures through climate adaptation initiatives. 

The second event, "Will the Heat Kill Us First?" features author and senior fellow at Atlantic Council Jeff Goodell. The discussion will run from 4:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and be moderated by Faye Flam, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. 

This event will focus on the effects of extreme heat on people's lives worldwide. Goodell will also explain steps that countries can take to live with heat waves and discuss his forthcoming book "The Heat Will Kill You First." 

Last year's colloquium was also on climate change issues, focusing on countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels.