Sylvia Earle
Sylvia Earle
Sylvia AliceEarleis an American marine biologist, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth30 August 1935
CountryUnited States of America
two wildlife planets
When I arrived on the planet, there were only two billion. Wildlife was more abundant, we were less so; now the situation is reversed.
golf agriculture united-states
Forty percent of the United States drains into the Mississippi. It's agriculture. It's golf courses. It's domestic runoff from our lawns and roads. Ultimately, where does it go? Downstream into the gulf.
support-systems care astronaut
Any astronaut can tell you you've got to do everything you can to learn about your life support system and then do everything you can to take care of it.
men underwater said
I've always said, 'Underwater or on top, men and women are compatible.'
views space inspire
The image of Earth from space transformed our view of ourselves. It is maybe the most important image that exists - because we can see ourselves in context in a way that otherwise would be really hard to explain. It should inspire us to wonder about it, to want to know everything we can about it and do everything we can to take care of it.
ecosystems squids sharks
Nothing has prepared sharks, squid, krill and other sea creatures for industrial-scale extraction that destroys entire ecosystems while targeting a few species.
fishing long ends
The end of commercial fishing is predicted long before the middle of the 21st century.
ocean sea weather
The living ocean drives planetary chemistry, governs climate and weather, and otherwise provides the cornerstone of the life-support system for all creatures on our planet, from deep-sea starfish to desert sagebrush. That's why the ocean matters. If the sea is sick, we'll feel it. If it dies, we die. Our future and the state of the oceans are one.
special
Not only who am I, but who are we? And where are we going? It's the "we." It's the social connections that are special to human beings.
ocean joy mind
My first breath was just...it just seemed impossible that you could actually breathe underwater. I knew in my mind it was possible, but actually experiencing it was such a gulp of joy and I feel it every time I go under the ocean. I love doing it, to be able to feel weightless, to spin on one finger, to do somersaults, to be like a graceful ballerina - even with a huge tank on your back you can do the most extraordinary things.
ocean oil impact
Ocean acidification - the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is turning the oceans increasingly acid - is a slow but accelerating impact with consequences that will greatly overshadow all the oil spills put together. The warming trend that is CO2-related will overshadow all the oil spills that have ever occurred put together.
ocean thinking support-systems
If you think the ocean isn't important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean, no life support system.
earth
No creature on Earth ever has organized themselves in ways that we have, with the capacity to alter the nature of nature the way we have.
water plenty universe
There's plenty of water in the universe without life, but nowhere is there life without water.