What does Matt Damon have to do with fighting climate change and creating a better future for our planet? On the evening of Monday, March 18, environmental scientist Jonathan Foley explained Damon's significance and the importance of combating climate change to the Auburn community. Foley is the executive director of Project Drawdown, a non-profit organization that works toward finding climate solutions in a timely and safe manner.
The Office of Sustainability hosted Foley in the Langdon Hall Auditorium for their Spring 2024 Sustainability Speaker Series. There, Foley spoke about the dangers of climate change, the lead perpetrators of emissions and solutions to the Earth's climate crisis.
Mike Kensler, director of the Office of Sustainability, opened the lecture and introduced Foley to the crowd. Kensler explained that in 2014, the artificial intelligence and technology company Thomson Reuters placed Foley among the top 1% of most cited global scientists and named him the highest cited researcher in ecology and environmental science.
Foley said experts along with everyday people need to use science-based strategies to reduce the effects of climate change. As he spoke about the science behind the solutions to climate change, Foley brought up Matt Damon's character in the 2015 science fiction film "The Martian."
"You [just] begin, you do the math. You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next," Foley quoted from Damon's character, Mark Watney.
According to the United Nations, climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather patterns and the Earth's temperature caused by natural changes or human influence. Human influence on climate change occurs primarily through greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, coal and gas.
Foley explained to the audience that knowledge of climate change isn't a recent phenomenon. In 1856, Eunice Newton Foote, conducted experiments with cylinders, thermometers and gases to see how the sun's heat affected the gases' temperatures. Foote concluded that an atmosphere of carbon dioxide would significantly warm the Earth and published her results in her scientific paper, "Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun's Rays."
Stigmas and biases against female scientists in the 1800s prevented Foote's paper from reaching the same levels of documentation as her male counterparts, which led to her publication fading into obscurity. Three years after Foote, a male Irish scientist, John Tyndall, reached a similar conclusion through more complex experiments. With his findings, many regarded Tyndall as the discoverer of the greenhouse effect until female scholars rediscovered Foote's publication in the 1970s.
According to Project Drawdown, six major sources make up greenhouse gas emissions: electricity production makes up 25%, 24% comes from food, agriculture and land use, 21% is from industry, 14% is from transport, 6% comes from construction and 10% comes from other energy-related emissions.
Foley mentioned greenwashing, which is when a company or entity falsely claims to be doing more for the environment to gain more public trust and money. Examples of greenwashing includes using non-recyclable paper straws, changing a label to green to insinuate a product is more eco-friendly or healthy and making false claims of sustainable apparel production.
Foley also discussed misconceptions about sustainable practices and climate change that occur on social media. For example, many believe that switching to greener infrastructure would be too expensive. However, Foley mentioned Project Drawdown's initiative to analyze practices and technologies that are cost-viable, quantifiable under diverse scenarios, currently available, have a net-positive impact and are rapidly growing.
After Foley explained climate change to the audience, he moved on to how society can eliminate carbon emissions to "net zero." In environmental science, net zero is when carbon emissions reduce to small amounts of residual emissions in the atmosphere, and other removal measures eliminate the rest.
"One of the things that's really important about climate change now is the importance of time," Foley said. "Because climate change is a cumulative property of a planet, and the warming we're seeing on the planet right now, for example, isn't just because of this year's pollution. It's because of the pollution every year going back a century or two."
Foley expressed that time is critical. Out of the 96% of emissions that need to be cut, 76% must be cut in the next decade to save the planet. He compared the time value of carbon to a retirement plan.
“Someone doesn't wait until they're sixty-four to start saving for retirement," Foley said. "Instead, they save as early as possible so that their investment pays off for a long time. Time is way more important than tech."
Foley warned the world needs to "tap on its emergency breaks" because the window of time for lasting, impactful change is rapidly closing.
The first part of "tapping the emergency breaks" is identifying the fastest way the Earth can reduce emissions in ten years. Foley explained that the most effective strategies included preventing deforestation, identifying methane emissions from fossil fuels and addressing "black carbon" emitted from older appliances, coal-fired power plants and biomass burning.
Foley pointed out that not all strategies fit every geographical location. Instead, different methods that work best for specific locations must be implemented. A recent way of detecting environmental issues that affect regions is through satellite detection. He explained that satellites can easily spot methane leaks, gas pipeline leaks and oil spills in areas that aren't easily visible.
Foley pushed governments and societies to embrace learning curves and allow technology to adapt to a cleaner earth. He told the audience that the more humans work towards a cleaner future, the more we adopt better strategies.
He compared climate-combatting technology to the iPhone, with each model improving after every release. "We wanna embrace learning curves where technology gets better and cheaper over time," Foley said.
He stated that instead of only focusing on centralized, "lumpy" solutions the government can use, consumers should try to take on the smaller, "granular" options. When most consumers switch to solar panels, LED lights, lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles and heat pumps, greenhouse gas emissions can significantly diminish.
Lastly, Foley explained what is needed to achieve Project Drawdown's climate goals. He pushed for the need to improve human well-being. According to Foley, the principal driver of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, and over 9 million people die prematurely from fossil fuel emissions.
"About two Alabama's worth of people on this planet are killed every year from fossil fuels, and we've never talked about it. That's more than tobacco, and guns and warfare combined," Foley said.
Foley warned there is a narrow window of opportunity to fix the climate change crisis, but it is achievable if everyone follows the science.
Outside of science, Foley urged the audience to collectively dream for a better future. Foley argued that media and politicians constantly talk about the deep political polarization in the United States. However, many Americans agree that climate change is real. According to Foley, over 90% of Americans believe in climate change.
Instead, Foley said the issue falls within the 90% of Americans. Only 60% are alarmed or concerned by climate change, and only 2% see climate change as a top issue for the nation.
Foley says the 2% need to flip the strategies used to convince the rest of the 90%. Instead of allowing media to be "fear-mongers" and lead to reader burnout, the media should report on the climate innovations created daily.
For the 2% of Americans trying to convince others to care, Foley suggested they meet others where they are instead of trying to persuade them. Finding a middle ground is crucial to making others open to fixing the climate crisis.
Suppose job availability, health issues or national security are larger concerns for those Americans. In that case, Foley suggests the 2% can discuss the job opportunities created by climate-friendly initiatives, how respiratory issues like asthma are lowered when emissions are cut or how America can end oil purchases from the Middle East or Russia by switching to electric vehicles.
Lastly, the push to fix climate change needs heroes. To Foley, these heroes aren't high-profile politicians or famous people, but everyday people. Families, local politicians and local leaders play a huge role in influencing the people around them to seek a brighter and more sustainable future.
"It is not game over when it comes to climate change or anything. In this moment, it's game on. This is a culmination of thousands of years of history, all happening in the next couple of decades. And we get to make our choice, and then we get to make our decisions," Foley said. "What kind of world do you want? And what kind of world do you want to leave behind?"
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
