Dear all, One issue in the states which I don't understand is, why "the other side" is mostly a lot more outspoken, and has a lot more aggressive strategies to get their point across. The urgency of combating climate change is huge, we are risking not just our children's future, but our own.
But I see very few ecologists and conservation biologists who actually do something about it. I hear arguments that as scientists we must be careful not to loose credibility. So therefore scientists mustn't be advocates. That is a huge loss in our struggle to educate and activate people, because - as a questionnaire in Alaska showed - 82% of all asked people believe scientists more than any other entity (media, politicians, family, neighbors). We NEED you all urgently to help educate people in time, especially in the states before the next election. And it also is not true that scientists would loose credibility. For example, Carl-Friedrich von Weizsaecker was a very highly esteemed physicist in Germany, and a strong advocate for peace as well. How much more evidence do we need? Why is there such an incredible resistance among scientists to get active? One scientists told me, he doesn't have enough information to do anything. Well, then get informed! This is about the future of our planet, not about a phone interview! Yesterday, Tim Flannery gave a statement to an IPCC report that will come out next month: http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/23740 He states that we are dangerously close to the tipping point or even passed it. What needs to happen before scientists speak up? I dream that we as scientists get together and create a huge movement on all universities, before the UN Bali conference this December, to show our governments that we demand drastic and immediate action. What are we waiting for? Is another publication, another grant proposal really more important than our future? Shouldn't we at some point reconsider priorities and our way of evaluating our work? Thanks for reading, Maiken Cornell Lab of Ornithology and presenter of The Climate Project (www.theclimateproject.org)
