Newswise — Speaking at the Annual Earthwatch Film Award presentation at the National Geographic Society, on March 21, Earthwatch President Ed Wilson took aim at critics of global climate change.
"Not having all the answers is no excuse for inaction," said Wilson, president of the global environmental organization that puts volunteers on research expeditions. "People are debating the temperature of the water, while our ship is sinking." Wilson presented the 2007 Earthwatch Film Award to Dimming the Sun, a NOVA/WGBH production that suggests people must take action within ten years to halt catastrophic temperature increases.
"As we see in this spectacular film, global climate change is the result of an extremely complicated confluence of variables, the precise roles of which are not yet entirely understood," Wilson continued. "Even so, we understand enough and the public is ready to take action now. Earthwatch offers two ways for individuals to be part of the solution. Number one: You can support scientists gathering objective data. Number two: You can take ownership of this problem—communities must take the lead."
Winning film director Duncan Copp compared the challenge to John F. Kennedy's dream of putting a person on the moon. "The beauty of the challenge is its clarity," Copp told the audience at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium. "It will take a nation like America to take the leadership role. Two elements need to move in tandem: legislation and education. The good work that Earthwatch does helps educate ordinary citizens who work alongside scientists around the globe."
The award-winning film, Dimming the Sun, is a sobering documentary explaining the phenomenon of global dimming. It concludes that the Earth has been protected from the full effects of global warming by pollution, which reflects back the sunlight.
The award ceremony was followed by a lively forum titled Climate of Concern: Addressing Global Climate Change. Panelists included Ed Wilson, Duncan Copp, Paula Apsell, senior executive producer, NOVA/WBGH, and Dr. M. James Crabbe, an Earthwatch scientist at the University of Bedfordshire.
"We have seen 80 percent of coral reefs decline in the past three decades," said Crabbe, who works with Earthwatch volunteer teams on the coral reefs of Belize. Crabbe received the 2006 Aviva/Earthwatch Award for Climate Change Research. "Earthwatch provides a vital opportunity for scientists from many disciplines to work towards an understanding of how global climate change impacts upon our environment and its delicate ecosystems"
Paula Apsell, applauded for NOVA's ability to explain complex scientific issues to television viewers, said, "The climate is right for change now. The glitz and glamour of Al Gore receiving an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth put the issue on the map to a very large audience. So we have a confluence of awareness, coupled with a change in Congress."
In the next five years, Earthwatch will support $40 million in climate change research, education, and engagement programs involving 100,000 volunteers. Earthwatch volunteers assist researchers monitoring the decline of the permafrost at the edge of the Arctic, exploring the effects of warming sea temperatures on coral reef communities Belize, or replanting coastal mangrove forests in Kenya. By volunteering on expeditions, people are taking positive action for change " an experience that often follows them home, where they share with friends and neighbors and find ways to make changes in their own lives.
"Earthwatch brings leading research scientists together with members of the public to gather the data that is the basis of tomorrow's global climate change headlines," said Wilson at the event. "It's an exciting way to take action in the battle against increasing carbon dioxide emissions."
For information on Earthwatch's Climate Change on the Arctic's Edge project, go to http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/kershaw.html
For Coral Reefs of Belize, go to http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/crabbe.html
For Tidal Forests of Kenya, go to http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/huxham.html
Notes to Editors:
§ Earthwatch is an international environmental organization whose mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. § Earthwatch was founded in Boston in 1971, and is based in Maynard, Massachusetts. Affiliate offices are based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. § Earthwatch makes research grants of over $6 million in support of around 130 projects each year. Earthwatch recruits volunteers from the general public and partner organizations to share the costs of a research project, and to join it as research assistants. In the past 35 years, Earthwatch field assistants have contributed 10 million person-hours to research internationally. § Earthwatch projects address four priority research areas: climate change, sustainable resource management, oceans, and sustainable cultures. § Earthwatch Institute welcomes proposals for long-term support. Around 18 percent of our projects have been supported for over 10 years.
§ Website: http://www.earthwatch.org
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