Author David Suzuki

David Suzuki

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation.

Photo: Jenelle Schneider/Calgary: Banff, Alberta in 2007

Political climate is heating up

By David Suzuki on January 17, 2019 Environmental News

Global warming isn’t a partisan issue — or it shouldn’t be. The many experts issuing dire warnings about the implications of climate disruption work under political systems ranging from liberal democracies to autocratic dictatorships, for institutions including the U.S. Department of Defense, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and numerous business organizations and universities. In 1988, when NASA scientist James Hansen reported to Congress that evidence for human-caused global warming was near undeniable, conservative politicians including the U.K.’s Margaret Thatcher, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Canada’s Brian Mulroney agreed that action was needed. In my home province of B.C., a…

Politicians who deny reality aren’t fit to lead

By David Suzuki on December 30, 2018 Environmental News

When faced with conclusive evidence of a major threat to citizens, a true leader would do everything possible to confront it. So, what was the U.S. president’s reaction to a U.S. scientific report compiled by more than 300 scientists and endorsed by a dozen different agencies, including NASA, NOAA and the defence department, that warned climate change poses a dire threat to the American economy, way of life and human health? “I don’t believe it,” Trump told reporters. Should we believe a president who displays profound ignorance about climate science and claims he has “a natural instinct for science”? Or…

Ocean study criticism shows benefits of scientific method

By David Suzuki on December 3, 2018 Environmental News

Errors in a recent ocean warming study illustrate global warming’s complexity. They also show the depths to which climate science deniers will stoop to dismiss or downplay evidence for human-caused climate change. The study by researchers from the U.S., China, France and Germany concluded, “ocean warming is at the high end of previous estimates” and global warming might be advancing faster than scientists thought. British researcher Nic Lewis, who has a math and physics background, found discrepancies, which he noted on a skeptic’s blog. The scientists acknowledged the errors and offered a correction to the study, published in Nature. The controversy…

Tackling climate change requires healing the divide

By David Suzuki on November 18, 2018 Environmental News

Canadian climate change opinion is polarized, and research shows the divide is widening. The greatest predictor of people’s outlook is political affiliation. This means people’s climate change perceptions are being increasingly driven by divisive political agendas rather than science and concern for our collective welfare.

Economists’ Nobel puts spotlight on climate solutions

By David Suzuki on November 11, 2018 Environmental News

As the U.S. administration denies or downplays climate science, some more sensible Americans have been rewarded for developing climate solutions.

Are governments giving up on global warming?

By David Suzuki on October 31, 2018 Environmental News

The U.S. president may think global warming is a hoax perpetrated by China, but his administration has concluded Earth’s average temperature will rise 4 C over pre-industrial levels by 2100 if we fail to address the causes. Overwhelming scientific evidence concludes that such a rise would be catastrophic for humanity and many other animals and plants on this small blue planet.

Protecting the complex web of life should be the priority

By David Suzuki on October 17, 2018 Environmental News

News that Environment and Climate Change Canada is considering “priority threat management” to assess endangered species is troubling. The method is often used to inform a “triage” approach in which some species are abandoned to focus resources on others ranked higher priority. The federal government is legally required to oversee recovery of all species at risk, not just those it chooses to prioritize.

A butterfly-friendly balm for turbulent times

By David Suzuki on October 4, 2018 Environmental News

In these turbulent political times, inspirational stories are more important than ever. Here’s one about how people power is fuelling a surprising comeback. It starts with a quiet disappearance that gradually builds to a historic wave of orange. And it may offer a balm for the seemingly endless barrage of negative news.

We must heed storm warnings to build a brighter future

By David Suzuki on September 24, 2018 Scuba Features

In 2012, North Carolina’s Coastal Resources Commission warned that sea levels there could rise by a metre over the next century. The warning was based in part on U.S. Geological Survey findings that “sea level rise along the portion of the East Coast between North Carolina and Massachusetts is accelerating at three to four times the global rate” and that sea level in the region “would rise up to 11.4 inches higher than the global average rise by the end of the 21st century,” according to ABC News.

We can’t hide from global warming’s consequences

By David Suzuki on September 4, 2018 Environmental News

Over the past few months, heat records have broken worldwide. In early July, the temperature in Ouargla, Algeria, reached 51.3 C, the highest ever recorded in Africa! Temperatures in the eastern and southwestern United States and southeastern Canada have also hit record highs. In Montreal, people sweltered under temperatures of 36.6 C, the highest ever recorded there, as well as record-breaking extreme midnight heat and humidity, an unpleasant experience shared by people in Ottawa. Dozens of people have died from heat-related causes in Quebec alone.

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