Last Wednesday, Dr. Gregory Sloan joined us for our weekly Becker-Rose Cafe series. Dr. Sloan is a senior Research Associate at the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University. He focused on the history of struggles between science and religion. I found this discussion very interesting, and he talked about the well known case of Galileo and his theory of the sun being the center of the solar system. However, one theme that caught my attention, and that has come up over and over again in our Becker Rose Cafe discussions is climate change. This time, we discussed the reasons why action is slow.
Science puts us in an uncomfortable place, it is so much easier to deny problems until it really becomes an issue. However, the evidence, which we have known for a while, overwhelmingly proves the the earth is undergoing climate change due to human activity. I think that it is very sad that the handful of scientists denying climate change are being funded by corporate big-money interests and many times that’s enough to stall action. The topic of climate change has come up in previous Becker Rose cafe series, threatening the biodiversity of our oceans and local/global agriculture. Climate change touches every living organism on earth and needs to be a priority in our nations agenda.