PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
If Not Now, Then When?
Keri A. Nutter, CPG-11579
knutter@dowl.com
About two weeks ago, my husband and I were discussing my column for TPG and how I was struggling with finding the best way to address climate change and navigate reluctance to discuss the issue. And that’s when my husband said the most profound thing, right there while brushing our teeth; “If you aren’t going to talk about it now, then when will you?”
‘If not now, then when?’ It was the per- fect challenge to have the conversation and to develop an organization position on climate change.
For nearly 60 years, AIPG has been the cornerstone of professionalism in the geosciences. But in the past 60 years, there have been a lot of changes to our profession; gentlemen no longer wear
spent in the field, no matter how good Google Earth is). Plate Tectonic theory was defined shortly after AIPG was founded in 1963 and is now the accepted mechanism for most of our basic geologic understanding. If the profession can survive these changes and adjustments, then why can’t AIPG also evolve?
The politicization of climate change has caused a polarization of opinion among our members, making taking a position one way or another a very dif- ficult choice for our leadership for fear of alienating some of our members or ruffling the feathers of partner groups. But as William James said, “When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that in itself is a choice.” In my opinion, it
wildest rivers. However, there is a very noticeable and real shift in the climate of my home state; increasing temperatures across the state have thawed permafrost and melted glaciers, and caused changes in the seasons that used to arrive in predictable clockwork fashion.2 I grew up in a temperate region that borders on that of an arctic climate. I remember that in grade school there was snow in the winter, cooler summers with rain and green grass and trees, and snow on the mountains until July; visitors to Anchorage were often (amusedly) spot- ted wearing sweaters and jackets all summer. But in the last two decades, nearly all of Alaska has been plagued with warm and dry winters, sweltering
suits in the field, and women make up nearly half of all geoscience graduates.1 We are able to collect terabytes of data from our desk before even putting our first foot into the field, whereas tra- ditional mapping tools and methods required months or years in the field to collect the same information (though I will never discount the value of time well
1.
is time for us to make a conscious choice on climate change.
Growing up and living in Alaska my entire life, I have been fortunate to reside among some of the most majestic and most grand scenery nature can provide: the Chugach National Forest in my backyard, glaciers merely an hour drive away, and world class fishing runs on the
summers, and incessant wildfires. I’ve witnessed, firsthand, the diminishing extent of the arctic ice pack and the rapid pace of thawing permafrost and the impacts that it has on animals, ecology, and traditional ways of life in the Arctic.
I’m not talking about the pictures of emaciated polar bears clinging to tiny icebergs or giant pieces of ice break-
Continued on p. 37
https:/
www.americangeosciences.org/geoscience-currents/us-female-geoscience-enrollments-and-degrees-experience-marked- change-2016
2.
https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/regions/alaska
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