David Suzuki

All those hours exploring the great outdoors made me more resilient and confident.

The truth is, as most of us know, that global warming is real and humans are major contributors, mainly because we wastefully burn fossil fuels.

If America wants to retain its position as a global power, its president must listen to the people and show strong leadership at this turning point in human history.

Most North Americans know that human-caused global warming is real, even if political leaders don't always reflect or act on that knowledge.

Humans are distinguished from other species by a massive brain that enables us to imagine a future and influence it by what we do in the present. By using experience, knowledge and insight, our ancestors recognized they could anticipate dangers and opportunities and take steps to exploit advantages and avoid hazards.

Nature surrounds us, from parks and backyards to streets and alleyways. Next time you go out for a walk, tread gently and remember that we are both inhabitants and stewards of nature in our neighbourhoods.

The medical literature tells us that the most effective ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many more problems are through healthy diet and exercise. Our bodies have evolved to move, yet we now use the energy in oil instead of muscles to do our work.

The human brain now holds the key to our future. We have to recall the image of the planet from outer space: a single entity in which air, water, and continents are interconnected. That is our home.

The failure of world leaders to act on the critical issue of global warming is often blamed on economic considerations.

We emerged out of nature, and when we die, we return to nature. We need to know there are forces impinging on us that we will never understand or control. We need to have sacred places where we go with respect, not just looking for resources or opportunity.

If we humans are good at anything, it__ thinking we__e got a terrific idea and going for it without acknowledging the potential consequences or our own ignorance.

There are some things in the world we can't change - gravity, entropy, the speed of light, and our biological nature that requires clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy and biodiversity for our health and well being. Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die. Other things, like capitalism, free enterprise, the economy, currency, the market, are not forces of nature, we invented them. They are not immutable and we can change them. It makes no sense to elevate economics above the biosphere.

We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyones arguing over where they're going to sit

Change is never easy, and it often creates discord, but when people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things.