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back in 2003 a few years before he died
I believe he died 19 2000 8 studs terkel was on my show
and he made this comment about hope dying last
hope without hope what's the alternative to it it's a spare
yeah me became just the Emmys your head in the oven
hope is what made this country
the weather is it would hope that made the abolitionist
fight slavery a/c again did terrible on
and its hope through the years that helped create these laws that have
given us some kinda civilized behavior you say
a regulated those who would prey upon
they have assisi I picked up that title by the way for a mexican farm worker
I mean with Jesse II crews his long retired
and she's in times when things have bleak
we were very we have a saying in Spanish
and the Spanish quotas thats around somewhere
on foetal it means hope dies
last as Turkel later pointed out it's useful to face reality and then go from
there with
out despair in some cases and in some ways is like a cancer diagnosis
most people handle tough news better than they think they will and everybody
has
should have the right to know what reality is
which brings us to a discussion around the realities of climate change last
week on this show
I had Kyle McPherson on as a guest
professor of ecology at at in America since
Arizona State University and he had some terrified things to take
to say about the future the plan checker sur we are experiencing a warmed
and warming planet it's difficult for me to imagine
there'll be habitat for human beings
in the not too distant future I'm consider for example
that method in leaking out of the Arctic Ocean are bubbling under the Arctic
Ocean
that one feedback alone um
contributes so greatly to planetary warming
that incorporating just that single feedback
I'm indicates that it it can be as warm as
tendency warmer then baseline
by 2040 and
and we've we've never had humans on the planet more than three-and-a-half CBO
baseline
so you're predicting the end of humanity
yes but first I went on to say that it's over
that humanity is a species is gonna largely die out probably within our
lifetime certainly within our children's
his message is that it's too late doing about it so we should do everything we
can now to make life
high-quality make life better before it all ends
on the other hand michael mann the famous client climate scientist who came
up with a hockey stick graph to show how carbon dioxide has been exploding as a
result of industrial activity
says there's still time to do something to stop the climate freight train
heading towards us
here's what he had to say about this during an appearance on the show earlier
in the week
this year were actually last year for the first time we passed
the 400 parts per million mark for the first time we think
in millions have years we've raise co2 concentrations now
through fossil fuel burning and other human activities to level the planet
hasn't seen in millions have years
and we're adding about 3 parts per million a year so if you do the math
we hit that 450 parts per million number in a matter of a couple decades and we
probably lock in
at least two degrees Celsius and some very dangerous and potentially
irreversible impacts on the planet on the list to baydhabo
how long do we have before it's too late to really do anything is
re gene in the background scientific community right now
it frankly needs more public discussion we need to prepare ourselves for the
worst
think with this way an old and dear friend of mine died a few months ago
cancer and made the mistake I've never believing seriously that is and was
coming in the sea when out basically screaming
no it wasn't pretty me you so angry as wife had have been taken to hospitals
on the other hand my dad i the same type of cancer was ready for embraced it
and died at home surrounded by family all a very and was rough for my dad he
had a pretty good last year experience in life
family and love while waiting for that cancer to take him down
I don't think that all a tipping points the guy mcpherson brings up are yet
irreversible
and I believe there's still a lot we can do to save the planet
agree more with Michael Mann that we stay still have some time to fix things
but it still is man points out going to be damn hard to get the political will
go on here
in the United States or worldwide and even using man's conservative numbers
will be a guys point of no return in three decades or less
now motivation strategies must contain two parts moving away from pain and
moving toward pleasure
the former touches tobin jerk back provokes a quick response
but doesn't last very long the latter
move into our pleasure is very long-lasting like setting goals and
working toward them to your life
but it provokes much slower and gentler response
therefore the most effective motivation strategies start with pain and then
moved to pleasure
it's time for us to acknowledge the painful reality that we've already
severely damaged our plan in ways that could just possibly
and I will certainly if we do nothing ways that could mean the end of humanity
or at least the end of human civilization
from that starting point as something that we want to work as hard as we can
to avoid
we must then invasion a new and better world that's not based on carbon as an
energy source
and put into place real world ways to get there quickly
ways that actually will improve the quality life on our planet
as studs terkel said hope dies last we're all working on
in our own ways if we all toss in our efforts and push our politicians hard
we will get there