David Suzuki

Science Matters - David Suzuki & Dr. Faisal Moola

 

David SuzukiDr. David Suzuki
Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and chair of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, and Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 22 honorary degrees from universities around the world. His written work includes more than 43 books. Dr. Suzuki lives with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, and family in Vancouver, B.C.

 

Dr. Faisal MoolaDr. Faisal Moola
Dr. Faisal Moola is the Director of Science at the David Suzuki Foundation. He is a practising scientist and has published widely in scientific journals on many topics in the areas of wildlife biology, conservation, and environmental policy. He lives in rural B.C. with his wife and their two young children.

 

Columns

Forests count in our fight against climate change

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola
Vol. 11, No. 42

 

In 1992, I attended an event that filled me with hope. Canada and the rest of the world had just signed a climate change treaty at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. I remember being optimistic that the world could come together to fight the greatest threat to our planet and our own survival. We had done it before in overcoming other threats, like defeating Nazism in Europe and beating back horrific diseases like polio that once maimed and killed tens of thousands of people each year.

 

When Canada signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty, we had not yet begun to experience the full consequences of climate change. There were no news reports of starving polar bears in the Arctic, the mountain pine beetle had not yet turned B.C.’s forests crimson, and we weren’t facing a rapid increase in infectious diseases, like Lyme disease, that are exacerbated by warming temperatures.

 


Copenhagen climate deal must be fair, ambitious, and binding

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola
Vol. 11, No. 41

 

Developed countries including Canada and the U.S. have benefited tremendously from fossil-fuel exploitation. Resources like oil, gas, and coal have allowed us to industrialize and to expand our economies, making life easier for citizens in so many ways.

 

Just as developing nations started to follow suit in raising their living standards, though, we began to realize that our current fuels and technologies come at great cost to the world. And even though developed countries have reaped most of the benefits of fossil fuels, developing countries, which have contributed least to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, are feeling the brunt of the consequences.

 


Countdown to Copenhagen

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola
Vol. 11, No. 40
 

It’s amazing what world leaders can do when they come together for a common cause, as they did in Montreal in 1987 to ban CFCs to protect the ozone layer. In December, our leaders will have a tremendous opportunity in Copenhagen to take the world into a new era of innovation and prosperity.
 

But, as was the case in Montreal, this opportunity is born out of crisis. The threat of climate change is real and imminent. Scientists from around the world have confirmed this through continuous study and observation – despite what the increasingly desperate and nonsensical arguments from deniers would have you believe.
 


Life altering planetary experience

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola Vol. 11, No. 39

 

Insurance companies, politicians, and businesspeople often use the expressions “natural disaster” or “act of God” to deflect responsibility for events beyond our control. Today, human activity and technology have become so powerful that we are contributing to what were once natural disasters.

 

Hurricanes, tornadoes, freak storms, floods, droughts, pest outbreaks, heat waves, and even earthquakes are occurring with greater frequency and intensity than ever. Some of this can be traced to human activity. Greenhouse gases, immense dams, and deep oil and water wells can all affect natural forces.