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JPL Earth Scientists Reflect on Earth Day April 21, 2008
In commemoration of Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22, we asked JPL Earth scientists to reflect on the event and what it means to them. Here are some of their responses:
"My father was a biologist who brought his family from Cuba to the United States. I still remember as a boy long walks with him on the beach as he pointed out the different organisms and the beauty of our planet. Those long walks instilled in me a love for understanding our planet, and more importantly, the desire to make sure we are good stewards of the precious gift we call planet Earth."
- Jorge Vazquez, Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center task scientist
"At NASA, every day is Earth Day. After all our explorations of the universe, we are still awed by our own miracle planet and reminded daily that we have only one Earth. But we also see warning signs posted all over our home. Oceans are warming and rising, glaciers are retreating, our atmosphere carries pollution to all nations, forests are disappearing and our out-of-control population growth is crushing the environment. Yet Earth is a tough old gal, and we still control our collective future. Earth Day is a time for us to pause and consider how each of us, all of us, can work together as trustees of our home, Earth, to benefit our collective future."
- Bill Patzert, climatologist
"At the moment I am working with a number of JPL colleagues on the topic of global change and the role that JPL and NASA can play in this process. The considerable talent and expertise of the people I have the opportunity to work with in conjunction with their and JPL's sincere intentions to contribute to this very important global problem make Earth Day particularly meaningful and going to 'work' extremely fun!"
- Duane Waliser, senior research scientist
"I study Earth science because I want to know: 'What will the future bring?'"
- Tony Mannucci, Ionospheric and Atmospheric Remote Sensing Group
"NASA and international space agencies are collaborating to study the polar regions of Earth in ways that have never been done in the past. Observations gathered by satellites as well as field parties on the ground have shown that the vast expanses of ice in Greenland and Antarctica are melting away in response to climate warming. We are now putting all our efforts to be able to predict how ice will melt in the coming century because ice melt raises global sea level and the impact this will have on coastal populations will be significant--some populations will have to leave their homes and move inland."
- Eric Rignot, senior research scientist
"I have been working at JPL for 10 years, mainly on developing and using radar satellites to study vegetation all over the world. Radars allow us to measure vegetation changes and some characteristics of its structure, such as height and biomass (the amount of material in the forest). This enables measurement of the impact of climate change on vegetation. How do they contribute to the atmosphere (example: oxygen, carbon dioxide) and other life forms (human and animals) on Earth? Are forests destroyed? Can they survive climate change?"
- Marc Simard, senior scientist, radar systems
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