Colorado State University Hosts Test Screening for Documentary That Will Be Shown at Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference

Note to Reporters: Reporters interested in attending the film must contact Kimberly Sorensen no later than Thursday, Nov. 12. Michael Nash, the film’s director, is available for interviews. Contact Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu to speak with Nash.

Colorado State University and its School of Global Environmental Sustainability will host a special test screening of “Climate Refugees,” a documentary examining the plight of 25 million people displaced by climate change, at 6 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Lory Student Center Theatre. The film will be shown at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Copenhagen later this year.

A panel discussion will follow the screening. Colorado State is the only university to test screen this film.

“We are putting a human face to climate change,” said director of the film, Michael Nash. “We traveled around the world, from the islands of the South Pacific to the coast of Alaska interviewing refugees on the run. Our interviews with refugees, scholars, and politicians describe the collision of overpopulation, lack of resources and our changing climate that is creating what is quickly becoming humankind’s greatest challenge.”

The test screening is free and open to the public. Colorado State students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to get tickets before tickets become available to the general public.

Starting Wednesday, Nov. 4, CSU students, faculty and staff can pick up their tickets from the CSU Campus Box Office with a valid campus ID. Up to four tickets per ID will be issued. Tickets for the general public will be available starting Friday, Nov. 6. The Campus Box Office, located in the Lory Student Center, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. More information is available on the Box Office website at www.csutix.com.

A climate refugee is a person displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters such as incremental and rapid ecological change resulting in increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise and other extreme weather events.

“CSU excels in climate change research and the impacts of climate change on people, food, water, disease and ecosystems. This film brings an urgent message to all of us that our world is changing rapidly,” said Diana Wall, director of CSU’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability.

“Climate Refugees” was executively produced by Patrick McConathy, chair of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System.

“The film is designed to spur discussion and debate about the effects of climate change on our planet,” said McConathy. “Colorado State is the perfect place to debut the film.”

For more information on “Climate Refugees,” visit www.climaterefugees.com.

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