Climate change is the biggest issue of the present day. It affects the physical world, and will irrevocably change economics and business. For scientists coping with climate changes, today we at TextMedic pause to consider: How does it feel to know you are studying the last of certain species? or ecosystems that are irreparably damaged?
Today’s weekly magazine of the New York Times calls itself “the climate issue.” Several pieces of excellent journalism speak about climate change.
The most poignant article in the climate issue profiles 7 scientists whose life’s work will soon be made irrelevant, due the destructive power of climate change. In short, this is a heartbreaking situation.
The article, “Bearing Witness,” by Catrin Einhorn, has 7 condensed interviews with:
- An ecologist who specializes in Arctic mammals, which are especially affected by global warming.
- A scientist studying coral reefs since 1992, a time period during which the world’s oceans have lost around one-quarter of their coral.
- A glaciologist who began studying glaciers in the 1980s, who used to see glaciers lose 7 inches a year but now sees them lose around 36 inches a year.
- A fisheries biologist who has seen salmon stocks in Northern California be devastated by dams, water diverted for agriculture, and climate change.
- A biologist who has studied a single colony of Magellanic penguins decline, over the past 40 years, by 1 percent every year.
- A team leader trying to save forest birds in Hawaii, where warmer weather is expanding the range of avian malaria.
- A forest ecologist and science-change scientist who studies tree deaths in the Sahel.
Although the TextMedic blog usually looks at macroeconomic trends and “big picture” climate-change issues, today we give a shout-out to seven scientists who are “in the trenches,” seeing the effects of climate change up close and personal. Thank you for bearing witness to the world we are losing. ♠️
Click here for the link to the New York Times article, “Bearing Witness,” by Catrin Einhorn.
The image of the bleached coral is from the website of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.