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Going beyond climate change awareness

July 31, 2020

By Francis Wiese

Stantec marine scientist Dr. Francis Wiese writes in STRIVE magazine about how shifting behavior is everyone’s social responsibility

I step up to the podium in the small lecture theater and look over 120 people assembled from more than a dozen nations. To my right, I see tabular icebergs passing by beyond the oval-shaped windows. My challenge will be to keep the audience focused on my talk rather than the breathtaking nature beyond the ship’s steel hull. The amazing scenery and wildlife are what they are here for, after all, but they are also here to be immersed in nature, to learn and experience, not just to observe. The date is December 21, 2006, and I am giving a lecture on climate change aboard the MS Nordnorge while cruising along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.

There was some anticipation about this talk, especially for the North Americans in the audience. George W. Bush was president of the United States, and it was a few months prior to the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which would ultimately change his official stance on the reality of man-made climate change.

Click here to read the full article in the July-September 2020 issue of STRIVE.

  • Francis Wiese

    With more than 25 years working in the marine environment throughout the world, Francis is active in increasing climate change awareness and providing solutions.

    Contact Francis
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