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One of the lead authors of a dire United Nations report that made headlines worldwide last week will be in Penticton for a public lecture Friday at the Shatford Centre.

First Things First Okanagan is bringing SFU professor Dr. Kirsten Zickfeld to the city for the inaugural Fred Ritchie Lecture, “Keeping climate warming below 1.5 C.”

Dr. Zickfeld co-authored “Global Warming of 1.5 C” with 90 others, which outlines the impacts of global warming in the context of improving the global response to climate change. The earth’s temperature has already risen 1.1 C since industrialization, causing more extreme weather and rising sea levels.

Zickfeld’s research shows the dire impacts a change of 2 C or more would cause.

During the lecture, she will describe climate changes in Canada and abroad, and outline what can be expected if things are left to proceed unchecked. Her research focuses on the effects of human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases on climate and the reversibility of human-induced climate change.

First Things First Okanagan is a local non-profit dedicated to climate change and green issues. The lecture Friday is the first in a series of six titled “Looking the Dragon of Climate Change in the Eye.”

In 2014 at the age of 94, Fred Ritchie, a former orchardist and resident of Naramata, fostered a group of concerned Okanagan residents who meet monthly to discuss climate issues. The group became “First Things First Okanagan.” Fred Ritchie lectures will be held annually in his honour.

The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation.