Expert Detail - Lindblad Expeditions

Lindblad Expeditions / National Geographic

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David de Rothschild - Adventurer, National Geographic Emerging Explorer

My Issue: Adventure Ecology

The extraordinary experience of spending over 80 days in Antarctica left me with a unique and inspirational insight that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It started when I found myself standing at the bottom of one of the world's largest glaciers (Axel Heiberg in Tans-Antarctic Mountains) and grew over the course of the next three months. I was nothing more than a speck of dust on the endless horizon, of arguably our most majestic, challenging and environmentally significant continents. Only then did I truly start to grasp the scale and complexity of what we would face at the hands of climate change. From that moment on it became obvious that if humanity didn't start to act in an environmentally responsible manner, we would be placing ourselves at peril. While the planet’s fragility was highlighted, the vulnerability of humankind was staring me in the face.

Melting sea ice, lethal storms, floods, disappearing glaciers, forest fires and fatal heat waves - living within our ecological limits is no longer negotiable. If we are to continue with “business as usual ” then atmospheric CO2 concentrations could easily double that of pre-industrial levels during this century, which will possibly be enough to raise global temperatures by anything up to 5°C, and if that happens, no matter which way we slice it, things start to become very uncomfortable.

Today, we are consuming like never before. No matter how big or small, every human being is having an impact. From the use of electricity in our homes to our weekly groceries, our veracious appetite and addiction to greenhouse gas emitting products and services is now undoubtedly causing our climate to change, and quickly.


D. De Rothschild: The Problem-Climate Change 2:40

PERSONAL QUOTE

"Our earth climate systems are littered with a multitude of tipping points and feedback loops which when crossed replace the so called 'slow creep' of environmental decay with a sudden and self perpetuating collapse. In my eyes the debate is over!! If we are to have any chance of creating a sustainable future now's the time to stop talking and start acting."

- David de Rothschild