“If Darwin could see what we now see, what we now know about the ocean, about the atmosphere, about the nature of life, as we now understand it, about the importance of microbes - I think he would just beam with joy that many of the thoughts and the glimpses of the majesty of life on Earth that he had during his life, now magnified many times over.” IfsThinkingKnowsEarthJoyOceanImportanceAtmosphereGlimpseMajestyBeamMicrobes Author:Sylvia Earle
“We have an atmosphere that is roughly 21% oxygen. The rest of it is largely nitrogen. There's just enough carbon dioxide (CO2) to drive photosynthesis. That has been, throughout the history of our species, pretty stable. Until recently.” Has BeensEnoughSpeciesAtmosphereStableCarbonOxygenCarbon DioxideCo2NitrogenPhotosynthesis Author:Sylvia Earle
“The burning of fossil fuels has altered the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere so rapidly and so abundantly that now, we are driving not just the warming trend, not just the sea level rise that is a consequence of the warming trend that is melting polar ice and alpine ice, but also [ocean acidification].” LevelsSeaAmountOceanConsequenceDrivingIceBurningAtmosphereFuelTrendsCarbonFossilsMeltingAlteredFossil FuelCarbon DioxideAlpineSea Level RiseOcean Acidification Author:Sylvia Earle
“We woke up some years ago about the consequences of ozone depletion, the hole in the atmosphere. You can't see it. You can't taste it. You can't smell it. But now we do regard that as a key issue. It's a scientific finding.” YearsIssuesKeysTasteFindingsConsequenceYears AgoRegardSmellHolesAtmosphereOzoneOzone Depletion Author:Sylvia Earle
“Throughout all of human history we've enjoyed certain benign circumstances: an envelope of atmosphere, an envelope of temperature. A kind of resilience that if you cut down trees, then they'll grow back. You take fish, they recover. You put stuff into the atmosphere that you know is not good for us, but we can still breathe. We haven't awakened, generally, to the sense of urgency that does exist.” IfsKnowsHumansKindDoeStillsCertainGrowsStuffCuttingTreeHavensCircumstancesFishesBreatheResilienceEnjoyedAtmosphereOver YouHuman HistoryTemperatureAwakenedUrgencyEnvelopesBenignSense Of Urgency Author:Sylvia Earle
“We are blessed with a place that is open to the universe and, despite this, supports this very thin envelope of air we call atmosphere, which holds just the right amount of oxygen for us to breathe.” UniverseSupportAirAmountBlessedBreatheDespiteAtmosphereOxygenEnvelopes Author:Sylvia Earle
“What we put into the atmosphere in terms of burning fuel is unprecedented.” TermBurningAtmosphereFuelUnprecedented Author:Sylvia Earle
“Photosynthetic organisms in the sea yield most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, take up and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide, shape planetary chemistry, and hold the planet steady.” SeaPlanetsAmountShapesStoresAtmosphereYieldChemistrySteadyOrganismsCarbonOxygenCarbon Dioxide Author:Sylvia Earle
“Ocean acidification - the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is turning the oceans increasingly acid - is a slow but accelerating impact with consequences that will greatly overshadow all the oil spills put together. The warming trend that is CO2-related will overshadow all the oil spills that have ever occurred put together.” TogetherOceanConsequenceImpactOilAtmosphereRelatedTrendsExcessCarbonAcidSpillsCarbon DioxideCo2Oil SpillOcean Acidification Author:Sylvia Earle
“The Arctic is a place that historically, during all preceding human history, has largely been an icy realm with an impact on ocean currents. That, in turn, influences the temperature of the planet. The Arctic is now vulnerable because of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with a rate of melting that is stunning.” HumansTurnsInfluencePlanetsOceanImpactRateCurrentsVulnerableAtmosphereRealmsExcessCarbonHuman HistoryTemperatureMeltingStunningArcticIcyCarbon DioxideOcean Currents Author:Sylvia Earle
