Quotes

Quotes from various people about science and research

Margaret Thatcher and global warming

April 09, 2013 by Brian Magi
Categories: Earth System ObserverQuotes

Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of Great Britain from 1979-1990, passed away on 8 April 2013. These are her introductory words in a speech to the United Nations about the threat that global warming poses to world order, and that I talk about in more detail below

During his historic voyage through the south seas on the Beagle, Charles Darwin landed one November morning in 1835 on the shore of Western Tahiti. After breakfast he climbed a nearby hill to find advantage point to survey the surrounding Pacific. The sight seemed to him like “a framed engraving”, with blue sky, blue lagoon, and white breakers crashing against the encircling Coral Reef. As he looked out from that hillside, he began to form his theory of the evolution of coral; 154 years after Darwin’s visit to Tahiti we have added little to what he discovered then.

What if Charles Darwin had been able, not just to climb a foothill, but to soar through the heavens in one of the orbiting space shuttles? What would he have learned as he surveyed our planet from that altitude? From a moon’s eye view of that strange and beautiful anomaly in our solar system that is the earth? Of course, we have learned much detail about our environment as we have looked back at it from space, but nothing has made a more profound impact on us than these two facts.

First, as the British scientist Fred Hoyle wrote long before space travel was a reality, he said “once a photograph of the earth, taken from the outside is available … a new idea as powerful as any other in history will be let loose”. That powerful idea is the recognition of our shared inheritance on this planet. We know more clearly than ever[fo 1] before that we carry common burdens, face common problems, and must respond with common action.

And second, as we travel through space, as we pass one dead planet after another, we look back on our earth, a speck of life in an infinite void. It is life itself, incomparably precious, that distinguishes us from the other planets. It is life itself—human life, the innumerable species of our planet—that we wantonly destroy. It is life itself that we must battle to preserve.

In a previous posts about Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr, I highlighted some timely quotes related to the eventual costs of rapid technological development. Namely, global warming. This is a global, multi-faceted issue with no clear pathway even though essentially the problem has been understood for almost 200 years. Margaret Thatcher addressed the United Nations and although the transcript of her speech is available, the video I originally came across on Youtube is no longer available. I downloaded the video so I could show it in one of my classes, but I hesitate to re-distribute it since I don’t know the rules. It wasn’t exactly high-quality either. Anyway, here’s the link to the transcript of a beautiful speech by a powerful world figure. And here’s the punchline. She gave this speech in 1989. 1989. Clearly, the world is not responding to the science.

A framework [for addressing global warming and the impacts] is not enough. It will need to be filled out with specific undertakings, or protocols in diplomatic language, on the different aspects of climate change. These protocols must be binding and there must be effective regimes to supervise and monitor their application. Otherwise those nations which accept and abide by environmental agreements, thus adding to their industrial costs, will lose out competitively to those who do not. The negotiation of some of these protocols will undoubtedly be difficult. And no issue will be more contentious than the need to control emissions of carbon dioxide, the major contributor—apart from water vapour—to the greenhouse effect. We can’t just do nothing.

This speech by Margaret Thatcher was the precursor to the formation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The scientists and policy makers who led the writing of that report in 2005-2006 won the Nobel Peach Prize in 2007 along with Al Gore. PM Thatcher should feel quite a bit of pride in her country’s efforts to initiate the IPCC. The group of scientists who contribute changes with every report that is written and now the IPCC is collectively finishing their 5th Assessment Report. Since I am a proud US citizen, I will say that the US should be (really, should have been) the first to respond. We have consumed the biggest piece of the cheap carbon energy cake and are angrily hoarding as much of the rest as we can. I hope leadership from our President continues and that the efforts of so many in the USA and all around the world is not squandered. As Margaret Thatcher said, “We can’t just do nothing.”

Tags: global warmingleadership

Policy leadership on issues related to global warming

February 13, 2013 by Brian Magi
Categories: Earth System ObserverQuotes

President Obama continues to steam ahead in the beginning of his 2nd term. His State of the Union speech was really well-done, and followed on the tone he set in his Inaugural Address. Not all of the speech was about climate (full transcript), but it is clear that even in the face of sequestration, if you are concerned about the impacts of global warming, then now is the time to send a letter to your representative, senator, and even our president to let them know you support the forward-thinking policy. Here is a snippet of the part of the speech most relevant to addressing the impacts of global warming. I added links to points that verify or provide a more complete perspective on statements President Obama made.

Today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy. After years of talking about it, we’re finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar, with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before, and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen. But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change.

Now, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science and act before it’s too late.

Now, the good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.

Now, four years ago, other countries dominated the clean-energy market and the jobs that came with it. And we’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year. Let’s drive down costs even further. As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.

Now, in the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that. That’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits. That’s got to be part of an all-of-the-above plan. But I also want to work with this Congress to encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and protects our air and our water. In fact, much of our newfound energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long. I’m also issuing a new goal for America: Let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years.

I do feel like this part of his speech does make some concessions and perhaps side steps the simple fact that the USA has to lead a GLOBAL effort to eliminate carbon emissions. This does not mean using natural gas instead of coal in the USA is a good thing because coal is still being mined and sent elsewhere (Europe) and the long-term health/environmental costs on top of the costs of more carbon in the atmosphere (natural gas combustion still releases carbon even if it’s less than coal – good article here) are a powerful part of that equation that essentially are being neglected for the economy. Policy might simply be lagging the science, but the science is becoming more and more stark, while policy suffered from years of delay when action was needed. I know climate is not the only issue on the table, but it is the clearest issue when trying to understand the future. Every year we delay will make any level of action not only more difficult economically, but will also reduce the impact of that action.

Tags: carbonclimate impactscoalglobal warmingnatural gastechnology

Climate change and leadership

January 21, 2013 by Brian Magi
Categories: Earth System ObserverQuotes

Below is a wonderful quote from the President of the USA Barack Obama during his Inaugural Address today (source: Washington Post). It sounds like the USA is ready to start moving forward on much-needed federal action on global warming:

We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

I highlighted the quote because it has not been common to hear from the federal government about progressive action on mitigating the impacts of global warming. President Obama’s comments are, as I said before, much-needed. I hope all successive presidents maintain this viewpoint on global warming – it’s an issue that deletes party lines.

Tags: global warmingquotes

Martin Luther King Jr and the pitfalls of technology

January 19, 2013 by Brian Magi
Categories: Quotes

Teaching began for me this past week. Like most people, I like quotes. The most memorable quotes make you reflect and think and react all in the same instant. So quotes are a useful way to focus the theme of a lecture. This Monday, our university remembers the life efforts by Martin Luther King Jr. and here is a great quote by King himself seen through the lens of youtube or you can read with your brain:

When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance. We’ve learned to fly the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish, yet we haven’t learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.

Tags: MLKtechnology