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Sylvia Earle
77 quotes
“People ask: Why should I care about the ocean? Because the ocean is the cornerstone of earth's life support system, it shapes climate and weather. It holds most of life on earth. 97% of earth's water is there. It's the blue heart of the planet — we should take care of our heart. It's what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won't get better unless we take the action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is without power. Everybody has the capacity to do something.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in the 2010 documentary film Bag It
“The next time you dine on sushi -- or sashimi, or swordfish steak, or shrimp cocktail, whatever wildlife you happen to enjoy from the ocean -- think of the real cost. For every pound that goes to market, more than 10 pounds, even 100 pounds, may be thrown away as bycatch. This is the consequence of not knowing that there are limits to what we can take out of the sea.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from her 2009 TED talk
“I hope Jill Tarter's wish to engage Earthlings includes dolphins and whales and other sea creatures in this quest to find intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. And I hope, Jill, that someday we will find evidence that there is intelligent life among humans on this planet. (Chuckles) Did I say that? I guess I did.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from her 2009 TED talk
“The ocean is, in effect, our life-support system, driving and weather, governing the , stabilizing , generating most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, taking up much of the , shaping . If the ocean is in trouble, so are we.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ocean is large and resilient, but it is not too big to fail. What we are taking out of the sea, what we are putting into the sea are actions that are undermining the most important thing the ocean delivers to humankind – our very existence.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No ocean, no life. No blue, no green. No ocean, no us.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just as we have the power to harm the ocean, we have the power to put in place policies and modify our own behavior in ways that would be an insurance policy for the future of the sea, for the creatures there, and for us, protecting special critical areas in the ocean.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration in:Effect of Violent Video Games on Kids; Dogs' Efforts to Keep Mail Safe; Spanish Government Sues Over Oil Spills,CNN.com, May 18, 2003
“Green" issues make headlines these days, but many seem unaware that without the "blue" there could be no green, no life on Earth and therefore none of the other things that humans value. Water-the blue-is the key to life. With it, anything is possible; without it, life does not exist.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only here in this part of the universe, on Earth, is there known to be a place naturally blessed with abundant, liquid water. Not only is this the singular place with an ocean of salt water, but even more significant, it is an ocean that is filled with life that in turn, during some four billion years, has shaped the basic rocks and water of the planet into a strikingly different kind of place, a place unlike any known to exist anywhere else.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Astronomer Carl Sagan noted that even when it is viewed from so far away that it is a pale dot, Earth is discernibly blue.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without the legions of minuscule organisms that have preceded us over the ages and whose descendants surround us and support us still, life as we know it could not exist.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ocean drives climate and weather, regulates temperature, absorbs much of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, holds 97 percent of Earth's water, and embraces 97 percent of the biosphere. Far and away the greatest abundance and diversity of life occurs in the ocean, occupying liquid space from the sunlit surface greatest depths.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Earth's life-support system-the ocean-is failing. But who is paying attention?”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“two things changed in the 20th century that may jolt us into a new way of thinking. First, more was discovered about the nature of the ocean and its relevance to the way the world works than during all preceding history. Second, during the same narrow slice of time, human actions caused more destruction to ocean systems than during all preceding history. And the pace is picking up.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“most of all, it matters that the world is blue because our lives depend on the living ocean-not just the rocks and water, but stable, resilient, diverse living systems that hold the world on a steady course favorable to humankind. The big question is, what can we do to take care of the blue world that takes care of us?”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I now know, the horseshoe crab and thousands of other ancient, resilient creatures may not survive the impact my species has had on the living world, largely in a single century. More worrisome, humankind may not survive for long, either, unless we use our remarkable capacity to learn from the past, anticipate the consequences, and take actions that will ensure an enduring future. As it turns out, the future of the ocean, the creatures who live there, and our own future are inextricably linked.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I certainly was unaware that the ocean globally was on the verge of cataclysmic decline, that the pristine seas I had known as a child were in danger of becoming Paradise Lost. I was not alone in not knowing. Rachel Carson, famous for her 1962 classic Silent Spring, 11 years earlier wrote in The Sea Around Us: "Eventually man...found his way back to the sea.... And yet he has returned to his mother sea only on her own terms. He cannot control or change the ocean as, in his brief tenancy of earth, he has subdued and plundered the continents.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perversely, the natural living systems that over billions of years have generated and shaped planetary chemistry in ways that make Earth hospitable for humankind are being destroyed at breathtaking speed. This, too, we now know. Now that I know, I hope to convey a sense of urgency to others, to inspire use of the special powers that humans possess to take actions to protect what remains and restore whatever we can of the natural living systems that give us life, and provide the underpinnings of all we hold near and dear.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But taking a small number of wild creatures out of large populations while protecting-not destroying the habitat is very different from the industrial-scale extraction of wildlife now taking place in the sea. These issues seemed to intrigue President George W. Bush during a conversation over dinner at the White House in April 2006.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“High on my short list of heroes for science-based ocean conservation is Graeme Kelleher, for 25 years the chairman of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and for his entire career a proponent of marine protected areas.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm haunted by the thought of what Ray Anderson calls "tomorrow's child," asking why we didn't do something on our watch to save sharks and bluefin tuna and squids and coral reefs and the living ocean while there still was time. Well, now is that time. I hope for your help to explore and protect the wild ocean in ways that will restore the health and, in so doing, secure hope for humankind. Health to the ocean means health for us.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And I hope Jill Tarter's wish to engage Earthlings includes dolphins and whales and other sea creatures in this quest to find intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. And I hope, Jill, that someday we will find evidence that there is intelligent life among humans on this planet.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The poet W. H. Auden said, "Thousands have lived without love; none without water." Ninety-seven percent of Earth's water is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn't important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean, no life support system.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“fortunately, in our time, we've learned more about the problems than in all preceding history. And with knowing comes caring.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Protected areas provide hope that the creatures of Ed Wilson's dream of an encyclopedia of life, or the census of marine life, will live not just as a list, a photograph, or a paragraph.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without an ocean, there would be no life-no people anyway”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's plenty of water in the universe without life, but nowhere is there life without water.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes, I try to imagine what intelligent aliens, viewing Earth from afar, might think about the sea. From their perch in the sky, they could immediately see what many earthlings never seem to grasp: that this is a planet dominated by saltwater! In fact, the ocean is the cornerstone of the systems that sustain us: every breath we take is linked to the sea.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes I try a poetic approach and describe how luminous, rainbow-colored jellies, starlike planktonic creatures, giant squid, translucent pink prawns, gray dolphins, brown lizards, spotted giraffes, emerald mosses, rustling grasses, every leaf on every tree and all people everywhere, even residents of inland cities and deserts who may never see the sea, are nonetheless dependent upon it.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Common sense forces me to consider first the incredible sweep of time that preceded this moment and the ocean's great age, relative to the infinitesimally small fragment of time enjoyed thus far by humankind.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our soaring population may suggest success as a species, but the environmental price of modern civilization is high, and our prosperity may be short-lived.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the rush to "develop" and use the legacy 4.6 billion years in the making, we have struck the earth like a slow-motion comet, wielding powerful new forces of change, rivaling and compounding the impact of natural storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, disease, fires-even, it now seems, nudging the grand and gradual planetary processes that cause ice ages to come and go.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Highways crisscross the land, simultaneously forming pathways and barriers.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This much is certain: We have the power to damage the sea, but no sure way to heal the harm.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All things considered, it seems so reasonable that people should care about the oceans and should be driven by a sense of urgency about knowing more. One of the great unsolved mysteries of the sea is why they don't. An aquatic atmosphere covers most of the planet's surface, encompasses the continents, and provides a home for most of life on Earth, yet it remains for humankind inaccessible and unknown, by and large ignored, overlooked, or simply taken for granted. How is this possible?”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Curiously, those who claim to believe that the earth and all living things were created by God in fact appear to place greater value on human works and the judgment of mankind.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No one can say for sure what such disruptions may mean for human well-being or survival; clearly, however, a global experiment is in progress, and we are in the middle of it, as a part of, not apart from, the rest of life on Earth. Unlike most other participants, though, we have the ability to alter the course of events, and we shall, either through conscious decisions aimed at making a difference, or by default, through inaction or ignorance.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is a time of pivotal, magnified significance for humankind. The fabric of life and the physical and chemical nature of the planet have been significantly altered through decisions already made by our predecessors and those now living; what happens next depends on what we do, or do not do, individually and collectively, in the next few decades. Depending on choices we make, our species may be able to achieve a viable, sustainable future, or we may continue to so alter the nature of the planet that our kind will perish.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“on balance, if I had to choose the most interesting and important time in all of human history to live, it would be now. As never before, and perhaps as never again, the choices made in the near future will determine mankind's success, or lack of it. These are the "good old days" sure to be envied by those in the future.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Far and away the greatest threat to the sea and to the future of mankind is ignorance. But with knowing comes caring, and with caring, the hope that maybe we'll find the Holy Grail of understanding, strike a balance with the natural systems that sustain us, and thus achieve an enduring place for humankind on a planet that got along without us for billions of years and no doubt could do so again.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As I walked solemnly over the blackened, blistered remains of what had been a friend's home, it was clear that those with whom I share the present time matter most: family, friends, acquaintances, members of my species throughout the world, and ranging beyond humankind, to other creatures I know personally or have met and admired on their own terms, from great humpback whales who turned their eyes to meet mine to the three Stellar's jays that recently fledged from a nest over my backdoor. I wish them well, want them to prosper, will take measures to protect them, if I can...”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(My parents and grandparents) witnessed the start of an era of unprecedented global consumption of living resources, the transformation of an earthly paradise 4.6 billion years in the making skimmed for the short-term service of a single insatiable species.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despite clear evidence that ocean ecosystems are collapsing and fish populations can not sustain commercial taking, huge nets, trawlers, and factory ships are still being deployed, and more are being built.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the past few decades-my lifetime-the sea has changed; with each passing year, pressures on ocean resources and ocean ecosystems increase; the size of the ocean does not.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A few individuals, armed with modern technology, can wield enormous destructive power. One person with a bulldozer can, in a few days, eliminate a forest that has been quietly building for millennia; one fisherman deploying miles of drift nets can wipe out entire seagoing societies...But just as individuals can and do negatively impact the course tory, so can and do individuals make a positive difference.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Part of human impact on the earth relates to our swiftly growing numbers. If we do not take deliberate, conscious action to maintain a reasonable balance between the numbers of people and the environmental wealth required to sustain us, nature will make appropriate adjustments, and famine, disease, and wars-the predictable outcomes of living beyond one's environmental means, of overspending environmental capital-will ultimately force a cruel discipline.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of my personal heroes is William Perrin”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To ensure a decent quality of life for the rest of our lives, as well as for all those who follow, we must develop global policies that recognize the interdependence of life and the need for nations to agree on mutually beneficial measures to protect and maintain the basic elements of life support, on a planetary scale. But it is difficult to be concerned”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source