Climate Scientist Susan Solomon's heartening Look at Environmental Successes

Susan Solomon, is the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Science at MIT and she is also author of the book “The Coldest March.” She is a scientist who remains hopeful despite the array of environmental threats we are facing. While it is easy to believe that we are powerless to combat climate change she points out that there have been a number of environmental successes that give us reason to hope that we can make a difference before it is too late.

In recent decades have seen major environmental progress: In the 1970s, the United States banned indoor leaded paint following evidence that it was poisoning children. In the 1990s, the United States put in place regulations to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide — a move that significantly reduced acid rain. Beginning in the 1970s, countries around the world began to phase out leaded gasoline; blood lead levels in children dropped dramatically in response.

“I find it tremendously uplifting to look back at how our world has changed,” says Solomon who is teaching a course on Environmental Science and Society, exploring how society has tackled a range of past environmental challenges through science, engineering, policy, public engagement and politics.

In 1985, scientists discovered that the Earth’s protective ozone layer was thinning over Antarctica. In response, Solomon led an expedition whose atmospheric measurements helped show that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — chemicals then used in aerosols and as coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners — were to blame for ozone depletion. Her discovery ultimately contributed to the basis for the United Nations’ Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals.

“I think young people today are growing up at a time when they don’t know that we actually have made tremendous progress on a whole series of past environmental challenges,” Solomon says. “Climate change has been called the mother of all environmental issues … and I think our approach to this problem can only be better informed if we understand better what we’ve done in the past.”