Science Weekly
Weight of the world – the climate scientists who saw the crisis coming
Nov 28, 2023
Graeme Pearman, Lesley Hughes, and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, pioneering Australian scientists, discuss the climate crisis. They predicted increased carbon dioxide levels, species extinctions, and mass coral bleaching events. They reveal their moment of realization, their actions afterward, and their thoughts on the world's response. The podcast also explores challenges faced by climate scientists and journalists, the biodiversity of coral reefs, and the devastating impact of coral bleaching.
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Quick takeaways
- Increasing carbon dioxide levels confirmed human activities' contribution to climate change.
- Rising temperatures pose a significant risk to coral reefs and their survival.
Deep dives
Climate Science Discoveries: Measuring CO2 Concentration in the Atmosphere
Graham Perman, a climate scientist, and John Garrett joined CSIRO in 1971 to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. They conducted experiments, including measuring CO2 in air samples, and discovered that concentrations were increasing each year. This confirmed the role of human activities in contributing to CO2 buildup in the atmosphere and potentially causing climate change. Perman also pioneered the extraction of air trapped in ice cores to study CO2 levels over the past million years. The data revealed that current CO2 levels are the highest in almost a million years.
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