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You have to 7 days to save the world1/28/2024 ![]() If you want to save the world, save yourself, first.Īt first blush this may seem terribly self-centered and dangerous. They look at array of challenges ahead and want to know what they are supposed to know.Īfter thinking long and hard this what I have come up with. So many times I talk to students who are earnest and full of energy. ![]() It's a harsh message to hear if you are 22 and I would like to leave them with something more than a "march off the cliff." I encounter this dilemma a lot as I travel and give talks on science and culture. It may, in fact, be called into question whether they want it to or not. I have tried to show them that, unlike previous generations, they may not be able to assume that the invisible infrastructure supporting culture will remain invisible. I told them they needed to do their own reading and discover for themselves what is sound science, what is a policy choice and how one may, or may not, affect the other. "Climate is likely to become problematic in the next 50 years." Damn.Īs we covered these topics I have emphasized that no one can predict the future. "Energy systems are likely to present a major challenge in the next 50 years." Sigh "Fresh water is likely going to be a significant problem in the next 50 years." Ugh. As we walk through topics like population growth and its impact on planetary systems I can see them slumping in their chairs. It's a great lesson and in the process we have also looked at Earth through the lens of climate change, resource depletion and the question of growth and its limits.Ī lot of what I had to teach them was not good news. Planets evolve through complex interactions between atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere (if you are lucky enough to have one). In looking at Mars, a now frigid desert world that may once have been "blue" with water running freely on the surface, we learn that habitability is not set in stone. In looking at Venus, a world that is a cousin to Earth in its mass and size but whose surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead, we learn about runaway greenhouse effects. The course is a kind of exercise in comparative planetology and I have been using our tour of the solar system to get the kids to think about what sustainability means in a planetary context. My class is an introductory astronomy class with a twist. ![]() So, today, I give my last lecture of the semester. The crew of Apollo 17 took this picture of Earth in December of 1972, when the spacecraft travelled between the Earth and the Moon.
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