The events of Christmas weekend inspired the thoughts that you are about to read. My wife and I watched a movie called Don't Look Up and then we had a discussion among my wife, daughter, mother, and mother-in-law on Christmas Day. Because of the last 48 hours, I am more optimistic than ever that science will change the world.
Engineers and technicians work on the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope will be a large space-based observatory. It is going to be launched in October. Alex Wong poses for a picture.
The images are from the same company.
After Christmas dinner, my family had a discussion. My daughter is a senior in high school and she has an assignment for the spring semester. She has to read about a person who changed the world. The debate started when we all threw out names. The names included obvious choices like Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, Abe Lincoln, and Condoleeza Rice, but I choose not to mention some more sinister options. There were many other names, like Bey, West, Walker, and others. If you don't know any of these people, you should look them up.
Some of the names were very significant contributors in history, but they did not meet my definition of world-changers. We agreed to disagree and move on. I was asked if I felt that what I do as a climate scientist is changing the world. I pondered the question and said yes as a group. Someone needs to change the trajectory of what is happening to this one because we don't have a "Plan B" planet.
The cast of Tyler Perry's "New York, New York" includes Scott Stuber, Tomer Sisley, and Leonardo DiCaprio. The picture was taken for the movie, "Netflix."
There are images for Netflix.
On Christmas Eve, my wife and I watched the movie Don't Look Up. Scientists discover a comet on a collision course with Earth in a movie. There is more to this than the usual Hollywood narrative that scientists tried to warn you. The movie talks about the climate crisis, denialism, and the lack of action on a looming problem. The movie hits upon many aspects of our current society, including science denial, political ideology, trivial concerns, and the cellphone-social media culture. As a scientist, I was struck by the idea that science is an ally to humanity even as some view it as a threat, sideshow, or something they don't understand.
As we enter the new year, this is where we are. The COVID-19 virus is still active. The uncertainty of 2020 is different than the uncertainty of 2022. There are vaccines we have. Scientific ingenuity and perseverance have given us treatments for coronaviruses. The danger to humanity was caused by the virus. The science was there for us. President Biden and other leaders remind us that this is not 2020. If we listen to the scientists, get vaccinations, and take other precautions, we can approach the virus differently in 2022.
Climate change, rising ocean levels, and extreme weather events are not going away. Scientists have been warning us about the dangers of climate change for decades. Climate change is perceived to be something far off, not clearly identifiable or impacting others. Many people struggle to make sense of their grocery bill, insurance, healthcare, equity, or security. Each of these things is now being impacted by hurricanes, heat waves, and rainstorms. We know that limiting greenhouse gas emissions can slow the train wreck. In some cases, adaptation is required. If we are willing to get in the car and drive in the right direction, science has provided a plan on how to proceed. A glimpse at a global effort was whatCOP-26 was about. A bipartisan infrastructure bill in the United States makes significant strides to climate-harden our infrastructure and enable capacity for less carbon-intensive transportation. That is science and technology.
On Christmas Day, there was a significant thing. The James Webb Space Telescope was launched by NASA. I have been anticipating this moment for a long time, as I worked at NASA for over a decade. Most of the world probably didn't know about this launch. There will be short-sighted questions about why we continue to invest in these science projects when there are more pressing needs. I can't wait to see what it discovers! The spirit of discovery and asking scientific questions has given us cellphones, gps, weather forecasts, life-saving medications, the Internet, social media and more efficient ways to live. You are reaping the benefits of science almost every single moment of the day, even if you don't see it.
We will continue to deal with variant of COVID-19. Climate change and space objects will keep rearing their heads in our weather. Science is available for us. It isn't the enemy. It is a big deal. My daughter chose Cleopatra.
Happy New Year.
In this handout image provided by the U.S. National Aeronatics, Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope onboard. The James Webb Space Telescope is a large telescope with a primary mirror. The observatory will study the history of the universe from the beginning to the present day. The photo was taken by Bill Ingalls/NASA.
NASA via the images.
