Solving Problems With Susan Solomon
It’s been an especially intense week, with election-related stress and political divisiveness only increasing. So, it seemed like a good time to hear from someone who has demonstrated how people can come together to fix huge problems and who has also played a crucial role in helping remediate a global threat.In the 1980s, the groundbreaking atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon pioneered our understanding that the then-gaping hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was caused by industrial chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. A damaged ozone layer increases ultraviolet radiation on Earth, harming humans, ecosystems, plants and animals. Dr. Solomon’s work underpins the Montreal Protocol, which banned 99 percent of ozone-depleting substances. Ratified by every country on the planet, the agreement is reversing the harms done to the ozone layer and is considered one of the most successful environmental treaties in history.In her latest book, “Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do it Again,” which was published last month, Dr. Solomon, who teaches at M.I.T., argues that we can learn from past environmental fights. Public awareness and consumer pressure can influence lawmakers, she says, and lead to positive change.Here are excerpts from our interview, edited and condensed for clarity.Why this book and why now?People need to have some hope. We imagine that we never solve anything, that we have all these horrific problems and they’re just getting worse and worse and worse. I’m not going to say we don’t have any problems. We do. But it’s really important to go back and look at how much we succeeded in the past and what are the common threads of those successes.The chemical companies’ pushback to reining in CFCs is arguably minimal compared to resistance from oil and gas companies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And the ozone issue didn’t have quite the same fervent political and polarized dissent from the public around it. Are these apples and apples comparisons?No doubt, climate change is probably the heaviest lift we’ve ever attempted, just because energy is so embedded in the economy. Countries that use more fossil fuel energy are generally richer. There’s almost a linear relationship between how much you emit and how rich you are.Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.
She played a crucial role in fixing the ozone hole, and has thoughts on climate change.
It’s been an especially intense week, with election-related stress and political divisiveness only increasing. So, it seemed like a good time to hear from someone who has demonstrated how people can come together to fix huge problems and who has also played a crucial role in helping remediate a global threat.
In the 1980s, the groundbreaking atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon pioneered our understanding that the then-gaping hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was caused by industrial chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. A damaged ozone layer increases ultraviolet radiation on Earth, harming humans, ecosystems, plants and animals. Dr. Solomon’s work underpins the Montreal Protocol, which banned 99 percent of ozone-depleting substances. Ratified by every country on the planet, the agreement is reversing the harms done to the ozone layer and is considered one of the most successful environmental treaties in history.
In her latest book, “Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do it Again,” which was published last month, Dr. Solomon, who teaches at M.I.T., argues that we can learn from past environmental fights. Public awareness and consumer pressure can influence lawmakers, she says, and lead to positive change.
Here are excerpts from our interview, edited and condensed for clarity.
Why this book and why now?
People need to have some hope. We imagine that we never solve anything, that we have all these horrific problems and they’re just getting worse and worse and worse. I’m not going to say we don’t have any problems. We do. But it’s really important to go back and look at how much we succeeded in the past and what are the common threads of those successes.
The chemical companies’ pushback to reining in CFCs is arguably minimal compared to resistance from oil and gas companies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And the ozone issue didn’t have quite the same fervent political and polarized dissent from the public around it. Are these apples and apples comparisons?
No doubt, climate change is probably the heaviest lift we’ve ever attempted, just because energy is so embedded in the economy. Countries that use more fossil fuel energy are generally richer. There’s almost a linear relationship between how much you emit and how rich you are.
Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.