Few topics today exceed that of global warming for presenting both factual and political disagreement over whether or not our earth is warming and if it is, why – natural vs. human activities, its impacts, and the best way to address it. A quick look at the NASA website (science.nasa.gov) contains the following rather stark assessment: “There is unequivocal evidence that the earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.”
Joining Lexington Rotarians this week to dig deeper into this existential topic is Donald “Don” Colliver, Ph.D., P.E. In a presentation entitled Does the Earth Have a Fever? – The Science of Climate Change, Don will be explaining if the earth is warming, the scientific basis of why it’s happening, and what we can do.
He is Professor Emeritus of the Biosystems Engineering Department at the University of Kentucky where he also served as BAE Director of Graduate Studies and Director of the Kentucky Industrial Assessment Center. He was awarded a doctorate from Purdue University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Don has been involved in the energy usage and efficiency of buildings and the impact of climate for over forty-five years – teaching and conducting research in areas of indoor environmental control, green buildings, solar system design, and energy auditing. By evaluating thirty plus years of hourly weather data for over 1440 international locations he developed the analysis technique to determine the first worldwide humidity design climatic conditions that are now used in national building codes.
Don formerly served as the Society President of ASHRAE (fka The American Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers) – a professional engineering organization with over 55,000 members in 132 countries. As a result of his initiatives, leadership and authorship, ASHRAE launched the Advanced Energy Design Guides. Over 3/4 million copies of these books have been acquired. Subsequent to his service as ASHRAE President he served as Co-Chair of the National Engineers Week.
In November 2019 he designed and installed a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system for his house. Before he moved last year it had a maximum monthly electric bill of $21.
He currently serves as an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and has lectured on climate change, energy efficient building design, and building decarbonization in more than twenty countries – including lecturing in four continents in the last year.
Please give Don a “warm” – see what we did there – Rotary welcome!
Rotary in Review
DOES THE EARTH HAVE A FEVER? THE SCIENCE BEHIND CLIMATE CHANGE
Last week, Lexington Rotarians welcomed Dr. Donald “Don” Colliver, Professor Emeritus of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Kentucky and one of the nation’s foremost experts on climate, energy efficiency, and environmental systems. In a presentation titled “Does the Earth Have a Fever? – The Science of Climate Change,” Dr. Colliver offered a clear, data-driven look at one of the most consequential issues of our time.
Dr. Colliver opened with a foundational premise affirmed by decades of research and leading scientific institutions: the Earth is warming, and the pace of that warming is unlike anything seen in recorded history. “When you step back and look at the convergence of data,” he said, “you see the same story being told a thousand different ways. The planet is warming, and it’s warming fast.”
He walked Rotarians through multiple independent indicators, rising global temperatures, shrinking glaciers, increasing ocean heat content, and sea-level rise, all of which point toward a rapidly changing climate system. What makes the trend especially compelling, he noted, is that “the physics hasn’t changed. What has changed are the concentrations of greenhouse gases we’ve added to the atmosphere.”
A major portion of Dr. Colliver’s talk centered on why the planet is warming. He explained the greenhouse effect in accessible terms and noted that while natural climate cycles exist, today’s dramatic acceleration correlates directly with human activity. “Carbon dioxide levels were incredibly stable for hundreds of thousands of years,” he shared. “In the last century and a half, we’ve pushed them into territory the Earth simply hasn’t seen in modern human history.”
Drawing from his forty-five years of work in energy systems and climate-responsive building design, Dr. Colliver illustrated how climate change is no longer an abstract concept, it influences everything from infrastructure and agriculture to public health and local weather extremes. He emphasized that communities like Lexington must be prepared for these shifts, both economically and environmentally.
But Dr. Colliver did more than diagnose the problem; he also offered a hopeful pathway forward. He highlighted the progress being made in energy-efficient building design, decarbonization, and renewable energy, areas where he has been a national leader. As former president of ASHRAE, he helped launch the Advanced Energy Design Guides, now used globally to reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings. He also shared his personal experience installing solar panels at his home, noting with a smile, “Before I moved, the highest electric bill I ever saw was twenty-one dollars.”
Dr. Colliver closed by reminding Rotarians that climate action is not a partisan stance but a practical and moral one. “This isn’t about politics,” he said. “It’s about stewardship of our resources, our communities, and the world we leave to the next generation.”
By the end of his presentation, Rotarians walked away with a deeper understanding of the Earth’s “fever” and a clearer picture of the solutions already within reach. His message was grounded, pragmatic, and ultimately hopeful.
Thank you, Dr. Don Colliver for a timely and insightful discussion that both challenged and inspired.