Mark Lowery of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Office of Climate Change will make a science-based presentation about the present and future local dangers from climate change.

It will be held on Wednesday, April 5, at the First United Methodist Church at 1 Gilligan Rd. in East Greenbush at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is free and open to the public; light refreshments will be available.

Lowery will describe the level of greenhouse gas reductions needed to avoid catastrophic effects in New York. He will also discuss New York State programs to reduce emissions and programs to adapt to the unavoidable effects of climate change and how to protect natural resources and infrastructure.

This presentation will be helpful to county, city, town, and village officials along with their planning board members, assessors, and zoning board members, as well as officials responsible for water, sewers, and highways; according to a release publicizing the event; representatives from the state and federal government and non-governmental organizations are also encouraged to attend.

As a climate policy analyst in the DEC’s Office of Climate Change, Lowery’s principal areas of responsibility have included leading public outreach efforts for the Regional Greenhouse Initiative, Sea Level Rise Task Force, and climate action planning.

He oversees the Climate Smart Communities program and coordinates implementation of the Community Risk and Resiliency Act.

This event is sponsored by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, which works to promote and facilitate the conservation of the undeveloped and unfragmented forests and other ecologically important areas of the Rensselaer Plateau region.