Panel discussion: can we adapt to a changing climate?

A recent panel discussion held by the Royal Society, in partnership with the British Museum, explored how humans adapted to environmental change in the past, and what we should be doing in the present to reduce our vulnerability to climate change.

Throughout history, humanity's survival has depended, in part, on our ability to adapt to natural fluctuations in our environment. And now, as our planet faces unprecedented shifts in the climate, it has never been more important for us to change with it. While global efforts are focused on preventing further damage, some degree of climate change is inevitable and adaptation is vital.

Chaired by journalist and former Climate Change Editor at Nature magazine, Dr Gabrielle Walker, the panelists included polar and paleoclimate expert Professor Eric Wolff FRS, at Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences, the environmental journalist, broadcaster and Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize winner, Gaia Vince, and archaeologist of Alaskan Indigenous sites, Dr Rick Knecht.

This event was held in partnership with the British Museum and is part of the public programme accompanying the Museum's Citi exhibition Arctic: culture and climate.