Jane Goodall, the famous anthropologist and conservationist, is urging people to take part in the “March for Science” on April 22 which is also Earth Day. Last Friday, Goodall posted a video on Facebook in which she spoke of how science had influenced her own life. She also expressed dismay that people today belittle scientists and their work.
In the video, Goodall, who has just turned 83, described climate scientists’ hard work. She said that they spent years gathering data on how humans affect the climate. During her travels, she has seen evidence of climate change all over the world. Goodall also called the denial of climate change “absurd.”
A few days before posting her video, Goodall, who is also Messenger of Peace for the United Nations, gave a talk to students at the American University’s School of International Service (SIS) in Washington, DC. During her lecture, she spoke of her life-long love of animals and issued a call for peace and conservation action.
President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” signed an executive order to reverse Obama’s policies intended to curb greenhouse gas emissions on the same day that Goodall spoke at the American University. Trump also plans to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement.
In an interview with the “Huffington Post,” Goodall called Trump’s actions “immensely disturbing.” She also noted that his actions have woken people up and cited the number of demonstrations and marches as evidence.
A coalition of non-partisan scientific groups planned the “March for Science.” The main event will take place in Washington, DC, but there will be over 400 satellite marches all over the world. In fact, there will be satellite marches taking place on every continent except Antarctica.
The website of the “March for Science” describes the DC march as both a celebration of science and its profound impact on people’s lives and a call to political leaders to develop policies and initiatives based on sound science.
Goodall added that she hoped people would take part in the march and expressed regret that she herself could not. She did say that she had arranged to have a life-sized cardboard representation of herself at the march to show that she was there in spirit.