David T Suzuki, PhD, Chair of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster.
David has received consistently high acclaim for his 30 years of award-winning work in broadcasting, explaining the complexities of science in a compelling, easily understood way. He is well known to millions as the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular science television series, The Nature of Things. An internationally respected geneticist, David was a full Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver from 1969 until his retirement in 2001. He is professor emeritus with UBC's Sustainable Development Research Institute. From 1969 to 1972 he was the recipient of the prestigious EWR Steacie Memorial Fellowship Award for the "Outstanding Canadian
Research Scientist Under the Age of 35".
For more insights from David Suzuki, please read Everything Under the Sun (Greystone Books/David Suzuki Foundation), by David Suzuki and Ian Hanington, now available in bookstores and online.
This article is reprinted with permission.
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By David Suzuki
A billion tonnes of limestone lie beneath the rural countryside in Melancthon Township, 100 kilometres north of Toronto. A plan to remove it spotlights the challenges faced everywhere when the desire to protect valuable and ever-diminishing farmland clashes with efforts to push industrial development.
by David Suzuki
Feeding our energy appetite is top of mind for many people these days. Some argue we should get coal, oil and gas out of the ground as quickly as possible, build more pipelines and make as much money as we can selling it here and abroad. Their priorities are the economy and meeting short-term energy needs so we can live the lives to which we’ve become accustomed.
by David Suzuki
The failure of world leaders to act on the critical issue of global warming is often blamed on economic considerations. Over and over, we hear politicians say they can’t spend our tax dollars on environmental protection when the economy is so fragile. Putting aside the absurdity of prioritizing a human-created and adaptable tool like the economy over caring for everything that allows us to survive and be healthy, let’s take a look at the economic reality.
By David Suzuki
In a survey conducted for the David Suzuki Foundation, 70 percent of Canadian youth said they spend an hour or less a day in the open air. And when they are out, it’s usually to go from one place to another. In other words, it’s just a consequence of trying to be somewhere else.
Nearly half the young people surveyed said they don’t have enough time to join programs that would involve them in outdoor activities. School, work and other responsibilities make it difficult to do things like kick around a soccer ball or go for a walk with friends in the nearby woods.
For someone of my generation, this situation is almost unfathomable.
by David Suzuki
One of the joys of being a grandparent is getting to see the world again through the eyes of a child. Recently, I found my three-year-old grandson picking at a scab on his arm. It brought a flood of memories because I used to do the same thing. It was amazing to watch the blood from an injury dry and, over days, form a scab. Before that scab was ready to fall off, I would pick at it to see what was underneath, and, wonder of wonders — it was fresh, pink skin!
Our bodies' ability to regenerate is truly amazing.
Fossil fuels will run out even if we accept increased extraction risks.
by David Suzuki
At least 38 earthquakes in Northeastern BC over the past few years were caused by hydraulic fracturing (commonly called fracking), according to a report by the BC Oil and Gas Commission. Studies have found quakes are common in many places where that natural gas extraction process is employed.
It’s not unexpected that shooting massive amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure into the earth to shatter shale and release natural gas might shake things up. But earthquakes aren’t the worst problem with fracking.
by David Suzuki
Arctic sea ice has already melted to a record low this year, in thickness and extent. And summer’s not over yet. According to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, record melt has occurred for the past six years. Both the NSIDC and the European Space Agency say ice is thinning at a rate 50 per cent faster than scientists predicted, mainly because of global warming, and that summer Arctic ice could soon disappear altogether.
Water is our most precious resource, but we waste it.
by David Suzuki
We can’t live without water. We need it to stay hydrated and grow food. We use it to generate electricity. Water is in us and all around us. It makes up about 65 percent of our bodies. Thanks to the hydrologic cycle, water circulates constantly — as liquid, gas, and solid — evaporating from oceans and fresh water, moving through air, raining onto Earth, flowing through plants and animals, into the ground, and back to the oceans through rivers, streams, and sewage outflows.
by David Suzuki
Preventing illness is the best way to get health-care costs down. So why aren't governments doing more to protect the environment? We've long known that environmental factors contribute to disease, especially contamination of air, water, and soil. Scientists are now learning the connection is stronger than we realized.
by David Suzuki
A national newspaper columnist wrote that "banning plastic bags will do exactly nothing to save the planet." She went on to argue that they're even environmentally friendly. Outright bans may not be the best solution, but plastic bags pose a big problem that must be addressed. The columnist appeared to be more interested in contrarianism for its own sake than in acknowledging the environmental harm these products cause.
