Some of the nation’s top scientists gathered in a packed Hendricks Chapel on Wednesday night for a ‘State of the Earth’ interview-style discussion focused on the planet.

Moira Gunn, host of ‘Tech Nation,’ interviewed three scientists: Carol Finn, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey; Pamela Matson, dean of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University; and Elsa Reichmanis, SU alumna and faculty member at the School of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The discussion focused on numerous issues that are facing the planet Earth. Panelists compared what people thought of the environment 20 years ago and what they think today.

‘People do not realize what chemically related substances can do to the environment,’ Reichmanis said.

The environment is constantly changing and the more people that do not know about it, the worse it is going to get, she said. An example of change Reichmanis witnessed 20 years ago was that people were only becoming aware of the issues at hand and now are simply ‘stewards of the environment.’

Finn said she has seen more people moving toward the issue than running from it. Twenty years ago there were hazards and scarce water available, and people did not do anything about it. Citizens are beginning to change the area around them, she said. People are now looking inside the Earth for answers, and they are finding a lot more information to work with.

In today’s world people try to meet the needs of others by connecting them to the environmental issues, Matson said. For two decades, air pollution dominated the world, and during the course of 20 years, scientists have solved some of the problems that occurred earlier in time.

‘There are still many challenges to our lifestyle that can affect us moving forward,’ Matson said.

Climate change was a major topic of discussion among the panelists. Finn believes that the striking amount of evidence, taken from a wide variety of sources, is enough to say that the climate of the Earth is changing. Reichmanis said to formulate opinions, people must think about future generations.

‘We must do what’s right for us and our children and grandchildren,’ she said.

One of the improvements some of the scientists put forth was communication.

‘We need to take responsibility to communicate what we can do that can benefit the community,’ Reichmanis said.

Gunn rebutted that communicating with the public does not necessarily mean changing people’s opinions.

The panelists each had their own solutions to the communication issue.

Matson said the only way to get the most effective answers is to ‘engage all of the expertise to work toward a solution.’ Finn gave some advice to scientists saying, ‘Join your professional society and work together to get a message out to the public.’

Reichmanis said it is going to take more than just one person to address this problem. Multiple people and groups need to come together to tackle this lack of communication, she said.

Natalie Rebeyev, a freshman biology major on the pre-medical track and public health dual major, said she thought the discussion was very informative and pointed out serious societal environmental problems. Rebeyev said if she had another opportunity to see the speakers again, she would because it is a topic that she’s interested in.

Alexis Pierscieniewski, a sophomore public relations and international relations major, found the talk both informative and inspirational.

That very attitude is not just hurting citizens presently but also harming future generations, she said.

‘Whether you believe in climate change or not, why wouldn’t you do something to help?’

nrcardon@syr.edu

Published on October 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nrcardon@syr.edu