Introduction

Scientists first raised the climate change alarm more than 50 years ago, but progress in tackling climate change has been slow. Scientists still forecast (at best) disruptive and (at worst) catastrophic levels of climate warming in coming decades.

The Climatographers have worked on climate change for more than 30 years, and we've come to see climate change as a massive knowledge management and learning challenge that is reflected well in E.O. Wilson's quote below.

We've been building the Climate Web to help accomplish the objective laid out by E.O. Wilson when it comes to climate change decision-making. Quotes are a great way to help communicate climate change, and we’ve organized hundreds of quotes in the Climate Web. We’ve selected some of them to include in this Ebook.

Not all quotes will resonate with all readers; that's why we offer a diversity of quotes and sources for those quotes. Why use quotes as a medium for thinking and communicating about climate change? As writer Gwen Moran noted in a 2015 Fast Company blog:

"But out of all of the things that people—famous, influential, and otherwise—have to say, what makes some turns of phrase so powerful that they become mantras for generations?

“Depending on whom you ask, the appeal appears to lie in a combination of good wordsmithing, motivational psychology, and a measure of self-selection. . . .

“Words from recognized leaders in business, politics, and the arts may also hold more gravitas because of the assumption that when people are in public positions, they must be accomplished, wise, or otherwise exceptional to have achieved those positions. Those perceptions can make messages from such leaders more powerful."

At the Climatographers, we love quotes, just as we love cartoons and other opportunities for communicating powerful ideas about different aspects of the climate change issue. We hope that this collection of quotes can give you some new ways to think about climate change.

The Climatographers