Radio programme - popularization of science, Cécile Figus

The current climate change is not the first in Earth’s history, but it is the first caused by humans. Studying the paleoclimate and the climate changes that have occurred could help us finding solutions to the current global warming. However, these past climate disturbances are similar to the current climate change in their common characteristics (temperature increase, release of carbon into the atmosphere, ocean acidification,…) but are not comparable in terms of causes and time. Indeed, while the temperature of past warming events increased in 1,000 to 100,000 years, the temperature increase of our time was triggered by the industrial period.

A good example of popularization of science is provided by the Warming Stripes, created by the climatologist Ed Hawkins. These color stripes clearly show changes and increases in temperature: blue and red when they are respectively below and above the average temperature since 1850. I encourage you to visit the website showyourstripes.info, which will allow you to discover the temperature variations on a global, continental and national scale, and will probably convince the most sceptical of the urgency of our situation.

Conversation with Cécile Figus and Professor Paulina Niedźwiedzka-Rystwej, who is responsible for the popularization of science project, was conducted by Joanna Michalska.