imagine a tiny pearl it’s beautiful it’s
pleasing to the eyes it holds so much
within it that pearl may be the product
of a lifetime whoever in our hands that
pearl is so much more fragile than it is
in the hands of nature our planet
floating through the vast emptiness of
space is but a tiny pearl in the grand
scheme of the universe the seven
trillion of us human beings do indeed
possess the power to destroy our planet
with one collective swipe however we
must work to protect our planet to truly
protect our planet though humanity has
not done enough and we are not doing
enough today most of us are familiar
with the basic science behind what we
are doing to our planet behind what is
causing climate change no not that it is
a hoax for China by China ever since the
dawn of the Industrial Revolution
humanity has had a lust for more we want
to get done as much as we can with as
little effort as possible contrary to
popular belief this is not unique to
high-school students instead this is
only natural
after all progress is often derived with
a quest for more often with less clever
even as humanity’s knowledge and prowess
has been thrust forward our our the
health of our planet has taken a
nosedive exploiting our resources for
the past three centuries we have burnt
fossil fuels releasing prodigious
amounts of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere
this carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse
gas
it traps heat in that would otherwise
relate away from the planet just like a
car on a hot Fresno day he can get in
but it can’t get out unfortunately with
earth we can’t just roll the windows
down so instead we must suffer the
consequences earth warms to levels far
beyond natural sea levels rise as the
ice caps melt the oceans are acidifying
ecosystems collapse and before long our
entire human way of life may be
threatened in fact it is projected that
within the next century major
metropolitan areas globally may be
underwater
starting with Kolkata in India my
parents hometown the truth is most of us
have heard little bits and pieces about
climate change yet as human beings as
the most advanced species on this planet
it is our duty to do everything in our
power to be our planets patrons you must
ensure that our progeny do not have to
suffer as a result of our actions or
lack thereof
after all 97% of scientists agree that
human beings are causing modern climate
vertically however like so many things
today our actions regarding climate
change have become a partisan issue fats
are often stretched to promote inaction
while one side of her mind tells us to
believe the scientists to do what is
almost certainly right the others simply
hunts for excuses to maintain the status
quo you see that other side of her mind
is daunted by the looming prospect of
what all of our actions are leading up
to you as human beings we have
difficulty in understanding the
monumental yet snail-paced changes that
we are making to our planet human beings
simply aren’t wired to understand
and concepts that exceed lifetimes as a
result many of us just write climate
change offers fake even the most stable
of the geniuses among us may go so far
as to call it the global warming hoax
facts and logic say otherwise
others of us may point to economic
issues that would arise from actions
that you could take regarding climate
change some may say that the coal and
oil industries in America would be
absolutely deprecated as theirs and as a
result millions of jobs may be lost to
them I say sometimes new industries
replaced the ones that are old and
become obsolete new jobs would replace
the old America could become the new
epicenter of energy globally in a
brighter tomorrow we could become the
center of solar of wind of hydroelectric
of geothermal energy instead of being
dependent on other countries for our
energy we could provide it worldwide and
become elite become the leaders of a
still others may point to the fats
themselves I’ve had people come up to me
and tell me he’ll just a lunatic buying
into all this nonsense you’re not
looking at the bigger picture earth has
let’s talk some more about this during
the last major warming event the
policing Eocene thermal maximum also
known as the PETM earth was indeed far
warmer 55 million years ago during the
PETM temperatures were so high that the
it’s simply inconceivable to modern
human beings we are talking rain forests
in Antarctica that warming was also
onset by an increase in carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere giving further
precedents and credence to the idea that
our modern carbon dioxide emissions are
indeed driving Earth’s temperatures up
however the difference between the PETM
and climate change today that the PTM
occurred at a much slower rate than
today’s global warming but in a race to
warm the planet the PETM would be the
tortoise – today’s here back then carbon
dioxide emissions were at an insane 200
megatons per year however that is
absolutely dwarfed by today’s rate of a
ludicrous 10,000 megatons of carbon
dioxide emissions every single year so
yes it is true the planet has been far
warmer than it is going to get within
the next century the next two centuries
maybe even the next three centuries but
that’s not the issue
evolution and adaptation take millennia
to proliferate through entire
populations and as a result life will
suffer much more dire consequences from
our haphazard activities than any
natural warming so let’s fulfill the
analogy of The Tortoise and the hare
let’s stop our current warming trend on
its tracks and let the PETM hold the
record for the most warming of our
geological era
because if we don’t a 108 degree day in
Fresno will be the very least of our
worries so how do we do this you ask how
do we human beings stop climate change
well as I’ve already noted we seem to
have an inbuilt resistance to making
large changes however the largest of
changes are the ones that have the
largest of impacts so sometimes you can
enlist the help of governments those of
us who believe in our own planet and
those of us who are environmentally
conscious they push our government to
set to sign treaties set limits enact
incentives we’ve already done this
before
we were able to get our government to
sign the Paris climate treaty along with
nearly every single other government
worldwide we also were able to get our
government to set new cafe fuel economy
standards on our vehicles we were able
to get our government to set solar and
electric vehicle incentives already we
were beginning to see the benefits from
all three of these pieces of legislation
unfortunately who the political pendulum
swings and with it so do policies it did
not take long for a government to
quickly remove for a new government to
quickly remove each of these policies
but that does not mean that we should
just take a backseat and let our planet
be destroyed in fact legislation is a
way of the government forcing us to make
changes and protect our own homes people
should not have to be forced to protect
their own homes we should want to
protect our own home so let’s not wait
around for the politicians if every
single individual were to get solar and
drive an emissions free vehicle as their
next car much of the problem here
salt after all transportation and
electricity demands are the two main
sources from which carbon dioxide
emissions occur there certainly are
world leading geniuses like Elon Musk
who are working on these on solutions to
these problems at companies like Tesla
however however these are long-term
plans and will take decades to
proliferate through the entire
population many of us can and should
jump on to the electric car and solar
bandwagon however not all of us can
maybe you are environmentally conscious
earth-loving individual maybe you drive
the latest electric car or have solar
well thank you thank you for helping to
save our planet for the rest of us we
simply must be more efficient with what
we already have for one according to the
National Highway and Transportation
Authority over 60% of the trips that
American take Americans take are under
10 miles these miles account for over
25% of the miles driven each year by
Americans if instead of driving we could
walk bike take public transport even
carpool of these distances we could save
nearly 300 megatons of carbon dioxide
emissions each year in the United States
alone to put this in perspective this is
more than what was emitted during the
was have very few changes to our
lifestyle we could have a significant
impact in addition if we were to stop
using plastics if we could stop using
reusable or if we could stop using
plastic plates knives and bags we could
save up to another 60 megatons of carbon
dioxide emissions each year in the
United States alone of course this
wouldn’t be this one go all the way to
solving the problem would have a lot of
work left to do
however as we do continue moving on to a
future where clean energy and clean
transportation take over in the United
States alone we would save 4000 megatons
of carbon dioxide emissions let that
sink in for a second it is important to
note however the change does come from a
grassroots level thus we must do what we
can and we must start somewhere
significant so let’s stop the bickering
facts are not meant to be partisan when
it comes to climate change it is time
for us to take a better look at the
bigger picture and to take actions
closer to us for if we don’t we can
never get back our earth after all a
pearl that is shattered can never be put
back together thank you [Applause]
pleasing to the eyes it holds so much
within it that pearl may be the product
of a lifetime whoever in our hands that
pearl is so much more fragile than it is
in the hands of nature our planet
floating through the vast emptiness of
space is but a tiny pearl in the grand
scheme of the universe the seven
trillion of us human beings do indeed
possess the power to destroy our planet
with one collective swipe however we
must work to protect our planet to truly
protect our planet though humanity has
not done enough and we are not doing
enough today most of us are familiar
with the basic science behind what we
are doing to our planet behind what is
causing climate change no not that it is
a hoax for China by China ever since the
dawn of the Industrial Revolution
humanity has had a lust for more we want
to get done as much as we can with as
little effort as possible contrary to
popular belief this is not unique to
high-school students instead this is
only natural
after all progress is often derived with
a quest for more often with less clever
even as humanity’s knowledge and prowess
has been thrust forward our our the
health of our planet has taken a
nosedive exploiting our resources for
the past three centuries we have burnt
fossil fuels releasing prodigious
amounts of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere
this carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse
gas
it traps heat in that would otherwise
relate away from the planet just like a
car on a hot Fresno day he can get in
but it can’t get out unfortunately with
earth we can’t just roll the windows
down so instead we must suffer the
consequences earth warms to levels far
beyond natural sea levels rise as the
ice caps melt the oceans are acidifying
ecosystems collapse and before long our
entire human way of life may be
threatened in fact it is projected that
within the next century major
metropolitan areas globally may be
underwater
starting with Kolkata in India my
parents hometown the truth is most of us
have heard little bits and pieces about
climate change yet as human beings as
the most advanced species on this planet
it is our duty to do everything in our
power to be our planets patrons you must
ensure that our progeny do not have to
suffer as a result of our actions or
lack thereof
after all 97% of scientists agree that
human beings are causing modern climate
vertically however like so many things
today our actions regarding climate
change have become a partisan issue fats
are often stretched to promote inaction
while one side of her mind tells us to
believe the scientists to do what is
almost certainly right the others simply
hunts for excuses to maintain the status
quo you see that other side of her mind
is daunted by the looming prospect of
what all of our actions are leading up
to you as human beings we have
difficulty in understanding the
monumental yet snail-paced changes that
we are making to our planet human beings
simply aren’t wired to understand
and concepts that exceed lifetimes as a
result many of us just write climate
change offers fake even the most stable
of the geniuses among us may go so far
as to call it the global warming hoax
facts and logic say otherwise
others of us may point to economic
issues that would arise from actions
that you could take regarding climate
change some may say that the coal and
oil industries in America would be
absolutely deprecated as theirs and as a
result millions of jobs may be lost to
them I say sometimes new industries
replaced the ones that are old and
become obsolete new jobs would replace
the old America could become the new
epicenter of energy globally in a
brighter tomorrow we could become the
center of solar of wind of hydroelectric
of geothermal energy instead of being
dependent on other countries for our
energy we could provide it worldwide and
become elite become the leaders of a
still others may point to the fats
themselves I’ve had people come up to me
and tell me he’ll just a lunatic buying
into all this nonsense you’re not
looking at the bigger picture earth has
let’s talk some more about this during
the last major warming event the
policing Eocene thermal maximum also
known as the PETM earth was indeed far
warmer 55 million years ago during the
PETM temperatures were so high that the
it’s simply inconceivable to modern
human beings we are talking rain forests
in Antarctica that warming was also
onset by an increase in carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere giving further
precedents and credence to the idea that
our modern carbon dioxide emissions are
indeed driving Earth’s temperatures up
however the difference between the PETM
and climate change today that the PTM
occurred at a much slower rate than
today’s global warming but in a race to
warm the planet the PETM would be the
tortoise – today’s here back then carbon
dioxide emissions were at an insane 200
megatons per year however that is
absolutely dwarfed by today’s rate of a
ludicrous 10,000 megatons of carbon
dioxide emissions every single year so
yes it is true the planet has been far
warmer than it is going to get within
the next century the next two centuries
maybe even the next three centuries but
that’s not the issue
evolution and adaptation take millennia
to proliferate through entire
populations and as a result life will
suffer much more dire consequences from
our haphazard activities than any
natural warming so let’s fulfill the
analogy of The Tortoise and the hare
let’s stop our current warming trend on
its tracks and let the PETM hold the
record for the most warming of our
geological era
because if we don’t a 108 degree day in
Fresno will be the very least of our
worries so how do we do this you ask how
do we human beings stop climate change
well as I’ve already noted we seem to
have an inbuilt resistance to making
large changes however the largest of
changes are the ones that have the
largest of impacts so sometimes you can
enlist the help of governments those of
us who believe in our own planet and
those of us who are environmentally
conscious they push our government to
set to sign treaties set limits enact
incentives we’ve already done this
before
we were able to get our government to
sign the Paris climate treaty along with
nearly every single other government
worldwide we also were able to get our
government to set new cafe fuel economy
standards on our vehicles we were able
to get our government to set solar and
electric vehicle incentives already we
were beginning to see the benefits from
all three of these pieces of legislation
unfortunately who the political pendulum
swings and with it so do policies it did
not take long for a government to
quickly remove for a new government to
quickly remove each of these policies
but that does not mean that we should
just take a backseat and let our planet
be destroyed in fact legislation is a
way of the government forcing us to make
changes and protect our own homes people
should not have to be forced to protect
their own homes we should want to
protect our own home so let’s not wait
around for the politicians if every
single individual were to get solar and
drive an emissions free vehicle as their
next car much of the problem here
salt after all transportation and
electricity demands are the two main
sources from which carbon dioxide
emissions occur there certainly are
world leading geniuses like Elon Musk
who are working on these on solutions to
these problems at companies like Tesla
however however these are long-term
plans and will take decades to
proliferate through the entire
population many of us can and should
jump on to the electric car and solar
bandwagon however not all of us can
maybe you are environmentally conscious
earth-loving individual maybe you drive
the latest electric car or have solar
well thank you thank you for helping to
save our planet for the rest of us we
simply must be more efficient with what
we already have for one according to the
National Highway and Transportation
Authority over 60% of the trips that
American take Americans take are under
10 miles these miles account for over
25% of the miles driven each year by
Americans if instead of driving we could
walk bike take public transport even
carpool of these distances we could save
nearly 300 megatons of carbon dioxide
emissions each year in the United States
alone to put this in perspective this is
more than what was emitted during the
was have very few changes to our
lifestyle we could have a significant
impact in addition if we were to stop
using plastics if we could stop using
reusable or if we could stop using
plastic plates knives and bags we could
save up to another 60 megatons of carbon
dioxide emissions each year in the
United States alone of course this
wouldn’t be this one go all the way to
solving the problem would have a lot of
work left to do
however as we do continue moving on to a
future where clean energy and clean
transportation take over in the United
States alone we would save 4000 megatons
of carbon dioxide emissions let that
sink in for a second it is important to
note however the change does come from a
grassroots level thus we must do what we
can and we must start somewhere
significant so let’s stop the bickering
facts are not meant to be partisan when
it comes to climate change it is time
for us to take a better look at the
bigger picture and to take actions
closer to us for if we don’t we can
never get back our earth after all a
pearl that is shattered can never be put
back together thank you [Applause]
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