He will give his perspectives on global climate change when he appears at IU Southeast at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in Hoosier Room West on the ground level of the University Center on the New Albany campus.

In Geological Perspectives of Global Climate Change (American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 2001) Gerhard and other contributors dispute the more publicized theory that human conditions impact the change in global climate rather than the evolution of the earth and its changes in orbit and variations in solar radiation. “The latest measurements of Antarctic climate show that the main part of the continent is cooling, not warming, and has been cooling for some time,” wrote Gerhard in one of his articles, titled “Ending the Climate Debate, Learning to Live in the Real World.”

Gerhard also argues against the belief that humans’ boost of carbon dioxide levels has created a warmer climate. “The popular and politically correct computer models have failed to” support this theory, he claims.

A retired principal geologist of the Kansas Geological Survey, Gerhard has published more than 200 papers and books on geology, petroleum exploration, natural resources and environmental policy. He is an honorary member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, past president and honorary member of that society’s Division of Environmental Geosciences, and honorary member of the Association of American State Geologists and the Kansas Geological Society. He was inducted into the Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also vice president of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission Public Outreach Committee and chairs the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Public Outreach Committee. Gerhard is a cousin to Gerald Ruth, a geology professor at IU Southeast.