Astrobiologist David Grinspoon wrote a book looking at the past 10,000 years and other Earth-like planets, such as Venus and Mars, to discuss climate change on Earth. Now, he’s giving a lecture about it.

Weber State University’s physics department will host Grinspoon on April 21 in a lecture about his 2016 publication, “Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet’s Future.”

Grinspoon’s book studies the rapidly accelerating changes of Earth’s climate and points to human behavior as the cause.

He argues that humans are changing the environment mindlessly, and while humans will always affect the environment due to their existence, his own ideology focuses on humans being mindful about their impact.

“I think we have no choice but to intervene with the Earth now because we’re inadvertently influencing it and we have to get a handle on that,” Grinspoon said in an interview with Space.com.

Grinspoon argued that creating an intervention requires human participation to complete the process.

John Armstrong, an astrophysics professor at WSU, believes if humans do not change the way the environment is treated, it could cause problematic results for future generations.

Armstrong invited Grinspoon to WSU to engage the community about what they can do to lessen their impact on the Earth.

“He’s very enthusiastic about encouraging people to participate in how we change the planet,” Armstrong said. “He gives people a view of what is going to happen from a different perspective.”

Armstrong encourages students and the community to visit WSU for the lecture as it introduces a new perspective on conquering Earth’s challenges.

“If you are interested at all in the future of the Earth, Grinspoon paints an optimistic picture of what it would be like,“ Armstrong said.

The lecture will take place on Apr 21 at 7 p.m. at the Hurst Learning Center.