I'm at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (#AGU2024) and.getting recharged by some exciting science. Today I saw talks about temperature reconstructions from very warm periods in our geologic history, slowdown of the #AMOC, ice fire interpretations and calibrations, heat wave frequency and magnitude, and other great topics, and I spoke with a NYTimes writer. Students are excited, the research is top notch, and there is a great energy.
But I'm a bit dismayed.
It feels like we have been talking about these topics for decades. Yet, society heeds no warnings, throws caution to the wind, and doubles down on consumption. On top of that, we scientists are generating a ton of waste and not taking time to sort our recycling on top of the huge carbon footprint that is involved simply in getting here. The conference organizers closed the entrance of the conference hall accessible from the metro station called "Convention Center," making public transport users walk 180 degrees around the center to enter through one entrance (and de-incentivizing public transport use).
We are not walking the walk, and society is not listening to what we are saying about the future of our environment. What are 20,000+ of us doing here then?
#ClimateEmergency
#ClimateCrisis
#DontLookUp
