The Ames Climate Action Team began a three-part, three-month “Climate Crisis: Facts to Action” series Wednesday night in partnership with the Ames Public Library, The Green Umbrella, Iowa State University Library and Wheatsfield Cooperative. The Ames Public Library Friends Foundation is supporting the three-part series.

As the first part of the series, Erv Klaas, professor emeritus of animal ecology, presented his lecture “Learn the Science Behind Climate Change and Why You Should Care.”

Klaas’ main focus was to highlight that the biggest threat to our climate is the greenhouse effect.

“The science is pretty well accepted in showing that the depletion of earth’s greenhouse gases is the main threat affecting climate change in our world today,” Klaas said.

Chris Duhaime, a senior in environmental science, said the top 100 companies in the world produce over 70% of the global pollution.

A 2017 report by the Carbon Majors Database agrees. It published data showing since 1988, 100 companies have been the source of more than 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“These companies have been doing this since the 1970s at least,” Klaas said.

Sam Faber, a senior in biosystems engineering, said he hopes to help in changing that as well as issues with climate change.

“I would like to help combat the path that we are currently heading down and places like this are great ways to be apart of the community,” Faber said.

Bre Dykstra, a senior in biosystems engineering and a member of the Green Umbrella, also hopes to help in the fight against climate change through education on sustainable practices.

“I just like hearing other people’s viewpoints on what they think is a good way to approach this because it is such a big problem and threat to us,” Dykstra said.

Dykstra said that the goal of the Green Umbrella is to do community outreach and education dealing with sustainable practices.

Klaas said that the issue of climate change is one that is imminent.

“A NASA scientist has told us that we are undergoing a rapid warming of the planet that will destroy all human life as well as all life on earth that could occur anytime within 10 to 100 years,” Klaas said. “That is why we’re here. It’s a crisis here, folks.”