Global climate change is upon us, altering weather patterns, depleting water and food resources, creating armed conflicts and environmental refugees. While this is certainly "newsworthy," climate has been a high-impact variable since civilization's beginnings 10,000 years ago. Human society's vulnerability to climate increased exponentially with deforestation, agriculture and the domestication of animals, and short-term climate change devastated great civilizations such as the Mayas. Current media reporting on climate change is overwhelmingly driven by scientific projections, policy debates over industry regulation, and the chimera of climate denial. Our conference factors in the missing human dimension by examining the impacts of climate on human society through time, with a view to better grasping the impacts of the current long-term warming and our means for adapting to its staggering demands.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn joined U. of I. officials at the Business Instructional Facility on the Urbana campus on Feb. 18 to celebrate the signing of the Sustainable University Compact, which outlines 12 initiatives that Illinois colleges and universities can choose to undertake to make their environments cleaner and greener by Dec. 31, 2010.

In a landmark collaboration with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has opened its first research center outside of the United States at Singapore's Fusionopolis.