Glaciers are melting. Oceans are rising. Surface temperatures worldwide are rising. It’s enough to drive us all into eco-despair. But despair not. We have solved planet-threatening problems before, atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon argues, and we can do it again. The path to success begins when an environmental problem becomes both personal and perceptible to the general public, Solomon says. Healing the planet is a long game won not by fear and panic, she explains, but by the union of public, political, and regulatory pressure.
Solomon knows firsthand what those solutions entail. She led an expedition to Antarctica in 1986 that made discoveries key to healing the damaged ozone layer. Solomon connects this career-defining triumph to the stories of environmental victories against ozone depletion, smog, pesticides, and lead to extract the essential elements of what makes change possible. The heroes in these stories range from angry mothers to gang members turned social activists to upset Long Island birdwatchers to iconoclastic scientists (often women) to crafters of brilliant legislation.
Solomon’s new book, Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again (Chicago University Press), is available for purchase.
This program is part of Smithsonian's Earth Optimism initiative.
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