What’s Climate Change To You?

Posted On: January 13, 2016

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

12:00 – 1:00 pm

Events Room, Biomedical Library Building

Light refreshments will be served.

Join us as Dr. Bruce Bekkar, a UC San Diego alumnus and a member of Doctors for Climate Health with the American Lung Association, discusses how climate change is affecting human health, and what we can do to prevent a climate crisis.
Dr. Bekkar just recently left his San Diego medical practice to devote his time to local and global environmental issues. Last spring, he completed Climate Reality Leadership Training, which included instruction from Vice President Al Gore and some of the nation’s leading climate scientists.
“Having been a physician for nearly 30 years not only helps me to understand the risks that a destabilized climate poses to life on earth, but it also gives me the authority and access to the audiences that  need to hear this message,” said Bekkar. “Put another way, as an obstetrician, I worked to preserve human life and helped new ones get started. As a climate activist, I’m working to preserve human health and to preserve nature, which is necessary for our survival as well as our happiness.” 
BruceBekkar3v2A lifelong surfer, Dr. Bekkar is “deeply bonded to our North County coast.” A Del Mar resident who has long been active in environmental issues, Bekkar currently serves on the City of Del Mar’s Sea Level Rise Technical Advisory Committee and was a founding member of the city’s Sustainability Advisory Board. He also serves as a strategic advisor to the Equinox Center, an Encinitas-based nonprofit research and policy center that focuses on innovative and sustainable solutions.
Dr. Bekkar graduated (magna cum laude) from UC San Diego in 1978, with a B.S. degree in Biology. He received his medical degree from USC, and completed his medical residency in ObGyn at L.A. County Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  After practicing in L.A. for a few years, he moved to San Diego, where he joined Kaiser Permanente.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Mariah Fellows at mfellows@ucsd.edu or 858-534-0533.