the consequences of global climate change include: (1) rising sea level, (2) significant alteration of global and regional climatic patterns with an impact on water availability, (3) fundamental changes in global temperature distribution, (4) melting of polar ice, and (5) major changes in the distribution of plant and animal species. While the precise magnitude and rate of climate change cannot be predicted with absolute certainty, significant change will affect the planet and stress its inhabitants. Past presidents Past presidents of the Geological Society of America: James Hall, 1889 James Dwight Dana, 1890 Alexander Winchell, 1891 Grove Karl "G.K." Gilbert, 1892 J. William Dawson, 1893 Thomas C. Chamberlin, 1894 Nathanial S. Shaler, 1895 Joseph Le Conte, 1896 Edward Orton, Sr., 1897 J.J. Stevenson, 1898 Benjamin K. Emerson, 1899 George Mercer Dawson, 1900 Charles D. Walcott, 1901 N.H. Winchell, 1902 Samuel F. Emmons, 1903 John Casper Branner, 1904 Raphael Pumpelly, 1905 Israel Cook Russell, 1906 C.R. Van Hise, 1907 Samuel Calvin, 1908 G.K. Gilbert (2nd term), 1909 Arnold Hague, 1910 William M. Davis, 1911 H.L. Fairchild, 1912 Eugene A. Smith, 1913 George F. Becker, 1914 Arthur P. Coleman, 1915 John M. Clarke, 1916 Frank D. Adams, 1917 Whitman Cross, 1918 J.C. Merriam, 1919 Israel C. White, 1920 James F. Kemp, 1921 Charles Schuchert, 1922 David White, 1923 Waldemar Lindgren, 1924 William B. Scott, 1925 Andrew Cowper Lawson, 1926 Arthur Keith, 1927 Bailey Willis, 1928 Heinrich Ries, 1929 R.A.F. Penrose Jr., 1930 Alfred C. Lane, 1931 Reginald Aldworth Daly, 1932 C.K. Leith, 1933 W.H. Collins, 1934 Nevin M. Fenneman, 1935 W.C. Mendenhall, 1936 Charles Palache, 1937 Arthur Louis Day, 1938 T. Wayland Vaughan, 1939 Eliot Blackwelder, 1940 Charles P. Berkey, 1941 Douglas W. Johnson, 1942 E.L. Bruce, 1943 Adolph Knopf, 1944 Edward W. Berry, 1945 Norman L. Bowen, 1946 A.I. Levorsen, 1947 James Gilluly, 1948 Chester Ray Longwell, 1949 William Walden Rubey, 1950 Chester Stock, 1951 Thomas S. Lovering, 1952 Wendell P. Woodring, 1953 Ernst Cloos, 1954 Walter H. Bucher, 1955 George S. Hume, 1956 Richard J. Russell, 1957 Raymond Cecil Moore, 1958 Marland P. Billings, 1959 Hollis Dow Hedberg, 1960 Thomas B. Nolan, 1961 M. King Hubbert 1962 Harry H. Hess 1963 Francis Birch 1964 Wilmot H. Bradley 1965 Robert Ferguson Legget 1966 Konrad B. Krauskopf 1967 Ian Campbell, 1968 Morgan J. Davis, 1969 John Rodgers, 1970 Richard H. Jahns, 1971 Luna Leopold, 1972 John C. Maxwell, 1973 Clarence R. Allen, 1974