On
Oct. 1, renowned
primatologist and
environmental advocate Jane
Goodall died at the age of
91. The British scientist is
most famous for her work
with chimpanzees, which she
embedded with for years in
the forests of Tanzania to
uncover more about their
lives in the wild.
Goodall’s
insatiable curiosity for the
natural world grew into a
fierce, decades-long global
campaign to protect the
environment from the
intertwined threats of
biodiversity loss and
climate change. Though many
mourn her passing and the
loss of a major force in the
fight for nature, they also
stress the far-reaching and
long-term impact of her work
on the next generation of
scientists and
conservationists.
And
Goodall herself left behind
a message for the world in a
unique
interview with
streaming platform Netflix,
which was only to be
released upon her death.
“There’s
so much we have still to
discover,” she said in the
interview. “I know when I’m
gone, there’ll be more and
more discovered if we can
save the planet in time.”
Redefining
Humanity: In
1960, when Goodall was just
26, she accepted a research
position that would not only
change her life, but also
the understanding of what it
means to be a human or an
ape.
Under
the guidance of
paleoanthropologist Louis
Leakey, Goodall set out for
a long-term project closely
studying the lives of
chimpanzee troops in
Tanzania. There, she
observed the wild apes more
closely than any scientist
had before, watching
chimpanzees hug and kiss
each other, fight over
resources and even use tools
to gather food, which
experts had previously
thought was a capability
only humans had.
“Now
we must redefine ‘tool,’
redefine ‘man,’ or accept
chimpanzees as human,”
Leakey said of Goodall’s
groundbreaking discovery.
While unraveling the lives
of chimpanzees, Goodall also
saw firsthand how human
activities were contributing
to an uptick in the animals’
deaths, from rampant hunting
to fuel the bush meat trade
to habitat loss from
deforestation. With this in
mind, she launched the Jane
Goodall Institute in 1977 to
help support further
research in the region and
protect chimpanzee habitat.
The
institute and Goodall’s
conservation work only grew
from there. In recent
decades, she worked
tirelessly to help reduce
the plight of chimpanzees
used in laboratory testing
in the U.S., protect other
endangered species and slow
climate change. In 2002,
Goodall was deemed a United
Nations Messenger of Peace
for her work. A prolific
primatologist, global icon
and one of the most
outspoken advocates for
nature, she wrote more than
30 books and appeared
regularly in National
Geographic magazine and on
television programs.
She
said
on several occasions this
communications push was a
big part of her main
mission: to inspire hope and
spark action in others.
“Hope
is often misunderstood,”
Goodall wrote in her 2021 work,
“The Book of Hope: A
Survival Guide for Trying
Times,” which was co-written
by author Douglas Abrams.
“People tend to think that
it is simply passive wishful
thinking. … This is indeed
the opposite of real hope,
which requires action and
engagement.”
Lasting
Legacy: Goodall
was hands-on in her support
of young conservationists.
She launched a program
through her institute called
Roots & Shoots, which
teaches young people in more
than 60 countries about
nature conservation and how
to make a difference in
their communities.
From
the start of her career,
Goodall was breaking glass
ceilings for women,
especially those in science
who were not given many
opportunities to research in
the field during the 20th
century. Many researchers
have attributed her work as
a motivator in their own
careers.
“It
was after reading her books
that I put on my boots and
binoculars and went out in
the jungle,” Catherine
Crockford, an expert on
chimpanzees at the Max
Planck Institute for
Evolutionary Anthropology, told
The New York Times.
I
can personally attest to the
impact Goodall has had on my
own career as a research
student turned environmental
journalist, whether in
moments of fear or wonder in
nature. But it’s not just
those studying or writing
about nature who Goodall
reached. Recently, she
appeared on pop culture
shows like the “Late Show
With Stephen Colbert” and
podcast “Call Her Daddy” to
chat about conservation (and
how politicians are much
like chimpanzees).
Last
Friday, Netflix released
what is perhaps Goodall’s
final interview on the
company’s new show “Famous
Last Words,” which are
only released posthumously.
Though often praised for her
calm demeanor, Goodall
voiced her frustration and
fear about recent actions to
speed up the destruction of
nature and climate change
that governments, political
leaders and business owners
around the world have taken.
She mentioned President
Donald Trump, billionaire
Elon Musk, President
Vladimir Putin of Russia,
President Xi Jinping of
China and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
specifically.
But
in her final message to the
world, she stresses the
power of individual action
to protect instead of
destroy.
“We
have to do everything in our
power to make the world a
better place for the
children alive today and for
those that will follow,” she
said. “You have it in your
power to make a difference.
Don’t give up. There is a
future for you. Do your best
while you’re still on this
beautiful planet Earth that
I look down upon from where
I am now.”
More
Top Climate News
At
least 170 hospitals in the
U.S. face significant risk
of flooding,
which could threaten patient
care, according to an investigation
from KFF Health News.
Incorporating data from
flood simulation provider
Fathom, the report found
that much of this issue is
not captured by publicly
available flood maps from
the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Experts
say cuts to federal agencies
that help respond to
disasters, such as FEMA and
the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,
could make the situation
worse.
From
extreme heat to wildfire
smoke and ash, the
impacts of climate change
are hurting our skin,
Olivia
Ferrari reports for
National Geographic. A
growing number of studies
find that global warming is
aggravating eczema and skin
dryness, while air pollution
from wildfires is invading
pores, which can cause
irritation. Experts
recommend staying hydrated
and using moisturizers and
sunscreens, which can
provide a shield against
pollution.
Science
teachers who rely on
federal data and tools to
teach their students about
climate change are
struggling to fill gaps
as the Trump administration
removes or restricts access
to online databases like climate.gov,
Gaea
Cabico reports for Science.
An academic consortium
created guidelines known as
the Next Generation Science
Standards that recommends
teachers introduce
human-caused climate change
to students in science
classes starting in fifth
grade. Science teachers
depend on vetted
visualizations or language
from federal databases and
collections to help with
this, but are now forced to
find many of these resources
elsewhere.
“Science
is always expanding,”
Jeffrey Grant, who works at
Downers Grove North High
School in Illinois, told
Science. “So, it is
important that I always
provide them with the latest
research.”
Postcard
from … North Carolina
For
this installment of
“Postcards From,” Today’s
Climate reader Wendy Carlton
sent in a photo she took
during some backyard birding
in Cashiers, North Carolina.
These red-mohawked critters
are known as pileated
woodpeckers.
Today’s
Climate readers, please
keep sending in your
photos for our “Postcards
From” feature to kiley...@insideclimatenews.org.
We love seeing how you all
interact with nature,
whether birding in your
backyard or hiking on
vacation.
