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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers. More than 1,200 scientists who responded to a Nature poll — three-quarters of the total respondents — are considering leaving the United States following the disruptions prompted by Trump. Europe and Canada were among the top choices for relocation.
The trend was particularly pronounced among early-career researchers. Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who responded, 548 were considering leaving; 255 of 340 PhD students said the same.
I have answered this poll myself; this is meant for scientists of all career-stages, so a lot of PhD students and postdocs along with faculty members.
I don’t think the article is paywalled, but let me know if it is.
We dont have decades left to act on climate. Unfortunately, this could be our nail in the coffin on this iteration of society.
That ship may have already sailed before this administration took over, but my hope was that society could restructure itself in a way that would still sustain human life. At this point we may even be on an extinction track if nothing changes. The world is chaotic enough at 1.5C. I shutter to imagine a world at 4C.
But poor brown people suffer those consequences, so who cares? /s
This is not how climate science works.
Everything we’re doing is “later than we should have done it”, but nothing is ever “too late to make a difference.”
The climate isn’t a lightswitch, and it’s not a bomb with a count down timer. Everything we do to improve the situation reduces the amount of total suffering that will result from anthropogenic climate change.
The notion that there is a point of no return beyond which our efforts are useless is very popular… With oil and gas executives. The “It’s too late” message is being pushed heavily by people who want to keep polluting.
In reality, it’s like getting into a car crash. Even if you brake too late to avoid the impact, braking still reduces the severity of the impact. Everything we do to reduce our carbon impact (as a species) will save lives. We are past the point of avoiding any harm at all, but we can still reduce the harm that occurs and hasten the point where we begin to restore our climate to a healthy state.