Three women who furthered the climate conversation
In honor of Women's History Month, here's a look at three women who helped frame the conversation around climate change and global warming.
March is Women’s History Month, so it seems appropriate to honor Rachel Carson and other women who helped frame the climate change conversation.
Carson worked as a marine scientist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, primarily as a writer and editor. She is generally credited as the person who began calling attention to the issue of global warming and climate change. In 1941, she published “Under the Sea-Wind” about the interactions of a sea bird, a fish and an eel in the open seas. Then came Carson’s popular book, “The Sea Around Us,” published in 1951. Carson also wrote “The Edge of the Sea” in 1955.
From the vantage point of 2020, it’s clear that Carson was raising awareness of an important issue that was largely ignored. In the 1950s, as the world was rebuilding after World War II, “progress” was a higher priority than protecting the environment.
In recent years, however, as storms and other natural disasters have increased in severity, increasing economic losses, the world can no longer ignore the reality of climate change.
She’s a marvel
There also are other women who increased awareness and conducted research on climate change. Consider scientist and science writer Kate Marvel. Based in New York City, she’s an associate research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia Engineering’s Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics.
Currently, Marvel’s research centers on using climate modeling to predict how much the Earth’s temperature will rise over the next several years. As part of this research, Marvel has been looking into the effects of cloud cover on modeling rising temperatures. Cloud cover has proven to be an important variable in climate models.
In addition, Marvel has done research on the shifting patterns of soil moisture from global samples. She combined the samples with computer models and archives of tree rings to model the effects of greenhouse gases on patterns of global drought. Marvel and her research colleagues were able to distinguish natural variations of weather and climate from the contribution of humans.
Ahead of her time
Perhaps the most interesting woman scientist involved in climate change is Eunice Foote. In August 1856, at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Albany, N.Y., Foote presented a paper titled, “Circumstances affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays.” She had conducted several experiments measuring the interactions of the sun’s rays on different gases. Foote concluded that carbon dioxide trapped heat, which led her to suggest that higher levels of carbon dioxide would result in warmer temperatures.
Hers is the first written record of the theory behind what we now call the greenhouse gas effect.
I don’t pretend to be a scientist, but I do live on Long Island Sound in Southwestern Connecticut. I see beach erosion every day. I also see higher tides and extreme flooding during Nor’easters and hurricanes. I know that properties along the shoreline are sustaining more damage from the storms, but local governments are reluctant to limit development.
Insurers are now poised to show the way in climate-related risk mitigation. Find out more in the March 2020 NU Property & Casualty cover story, “The Call to Lead.”
And that’s what’s top of mind for me this month.
Rosalie Donlon is editor-in-chief of NU P&C. She can be reached at rdonlon@alm.com.
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