Business and Agriculture 
Business: In addition to being a scientific and an ethical issue, climate change is an important economic issue, given the scale of the costs that it may impose on societies. Moreover, the economic cost of climate change is a major source of uncertainty. Climate change will pose challenges and opportunities for economic sectors and firms.

Agriculture: One of the major causes of global warming is an increase in CO₂. Some scientists think this will help plants. One of the things that will help plants is the weather will be warmer, making a longer growing season. If the plants have a longer growing season they will produce more fruit. Another thing is that more precipitation is anticipated. If there is an increase in precipitation, the plants will have plenty of water. Plus, plants breathe CO₂ like we breathe oxygen. If there is warmer weather, an increase in precipitation, and lots of CO₂, the plants will grow better instead of dying during global warming, right?

Session 2 (3:30 – 5:00)

Energy: In the decades ahead, where will the energy that powers Cache Valley be produced, how much will it cost, and how reliable will it be? Pacificorp, Utah's largest energy supplier has recently stated it will not pursue further coal projects in the state.  Meanwhile, geothermal power is being developed just across the Wellsvilles. Utah's energy landscape is changing.  Serious concerns over air quality, diminishing fossil fuel supplies and risks to climate suggest that the next fifty years of energy will not resemble the last fifty.  We face many questions; as a community, we must begin to address them today:

Health and Air Quality
There is a close link between local climate and the occurrence or severity of some diseases and other threats to human health. Extreme temperatures can directly cause the loss of life. Moreover, several serious diseases appear only in warm areas. Finally, warm temperatures can increase air and water pollution, which in turn harm human health. The most direct effect of climate change would be the impacts of hotter temperatures themselves. Extremely hot temperatures increase the number of people who die on a given day for many reasons: People with heart problems are vulnerable because their cardiovascular system must work harder to keep the body cool during hot weather. Heat exhaustion and some respiratory problems increase. Higher air temperatures also increase the concentration of ozone at ground level. In the lower atmosphere, ozone is a harmful pollutant.  Ozone damages lung tissue, and causes particular problems for people with asthma and other lung diseases. Even modest exposure to ozone can cause healthy individuals to experience chest pains, nausea, and pulmonary congestion. In much of the US, a warming of four degrees (F) could increase ozone concentrations by about 5 percent.

Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation
Plants and animals of the world are adapted to the environments in which they occur. Climate change will inevitably affect them either directly through their physiologies, and/or by changing the predators, competitors, food-and-habitat providers with which they interact. Ecologists are predicting widespread extinctions of species, but some may be benefited.  Deer and elk, which are forced to move to foothill ranges for food in winter when snowpacks cover high-elevation vegetation, will be able to occupy entire mountain ranges when snowpacks shrink or disappear.  Snowpack disappearances will also reduce opportunities for winter recreation like downhill skiing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.  An afternoon panel of wildlife scientists and winter-recreation specialists will discuss this topic.