Dr. Sylvia Earle
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Yeah, no kidding.
Yeah, no kidding.
Absolutely, we have done it to ourselves, and it's going to get harder. But the sooner we take seriously the opportunity that will never be as good as it is right now, it's a race with what we're learning and what we're losing. Mm-hmm. And looking at the climate issues, the loss of the natural fabric of life, 5% maybe of old-growth forest.
Absolutely, we have done it to ourselves, and it's going to get harder. But the sooner we take seriously the opportunity that will never be as good as it is right now, it's a race with what we're learning and what we're losing. Mm-hmm. And looking at the climate issues, the loss of the natural fabric of life, 5% maybe of old-growth forest.
Old-growth, meaning those systems that have survived, they were here preceding the advent of Europeans arriving in North America. Some preceding, going back literally thousands of years that are still intact. A few trees in a few places that literally are more than a thousand years old. Most of them have been converted to lumber, board feet that you can measure in dollars. Right.
Old-growth, meaning those systems that have survived, they were here preceding the advent of Europeans arriving in North America. Some preceding, going back literally thousands of years that are still intact. A few trees in a few places that literally are more than a thousand years old. Most of them have been converted to lumber, board feet that you can measure in dollars. Right.
But they're really priceless. What else can I say? This is the last best chance we'll ever have. And it isn't just in North America. It's across the globe. So I'm excited about a lot of things, mostly the kids. who I say to them, you're so fortunate. You're a 21st century kid. And I'm lucky, too, because of what we know that nobody could know before. It's that race with knowledge and loss.
But they're really priceless. What else can I say? This is the last best chance we'll ever have. And it isn't just in North America. It's across the globe. So I'm excited about a lot of things, mostly the kids. who I say to them, you're so fortunate. You're a 21st century kid. And I'm lucky, too, because of what we know that nobody could know before. It's that race with knowledge and loss.
But nobody had been to the moon or the deepest part of the ocean. Nobody knew about DNA or RNA or the microbes that live within us that we need. Now we might come to realize we need fish alive in the ocean. We need them, like we need birds in the sky. We need nature. We need a living planet, not a dead one.
But nobody had been to the moon or the deepest part of the ocean. Nobody knew about DNA or RNA or the microbes that live within us that we need. Now we might come to realize we need fish alive in the ocean. We need them, like we need birds in the sky. We need nature. We need a living planet, not a dead one.
And just what can anybody do to restore life instead of constantly being on the killing side, the consuming side? And if I could be born any time, I think it would have to be right about now.
And just what can anybody do to restore life instead of constantly being on the killing side, the consuming side? And if I could be born any time, I think it would have to be right about now.
Because of what's known, the best chance. What's known? Yeah.
Because of what's known, the best chance. What's known? Yeah.
Yeah, we had no idea.
Yeah, we had no idea.
Going back when I was a kid, that the kids of today grow up with that awareness that is in their everyday existence. Cause for hope. Cause for huge hope.
Going back when I was a kid, that the kids of today grow up with that awareness that is in their everyday existence. Cause for hope. Cause for huge hope.
I wish everybody could go back to 50 years ago, whatever it is, armed with what we know now.
I wish everybody could go back to 50 years ago, whatever it is, armed with what we know now.