2023-05-02 14:28:35
Cordovan biologist Sandra Díaz argued that the speed with which changes in nature as a result of human actions are occurring today is unprecedented in history and challenges the adaptability and resilience of many systems.
The speed with which changes in nature are occurring is unprecedented
Although Díaz admits that there have been many climatic changes throughout the history of the planet, he warns that what is unprecedented is the speed with which the changes that are seen today are occurring.
“This challenges the adaptive and resilient capacity of many, many systems. The same is true of the biodiversity crisis: there have been dramatic extinction events in the past, with the disappearance of species much more drastic than what we are facing today. But this time it is because of us and the consequences for our way of life would be dramatic, and this time we can do something,” he added.
According to the academic, people are appropriating the information and empowering themselves. “When I started working on climate change issues, most people didn’t believe in the issue, not just most people in society, but most scientists,” she recalled.
Today, Díaz stressed, no one would think of discussing the issue of climate change. “It is an issue that is everywhere. For example, there are lots of civil society organizations that are making the city green even though it’s not easy. In the same university city of UNC there are a lot of little patches of native species here and there. Those are small steps, we don’t have a resounding and definitive victory, but there are small steps and it seems to me that we have to keep fighting for it”.
World reference in biodiversity and climate change
The senior researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet) leads a team of professionals from the Multidisciplinary Institute of Plant Biology who have a mission: to interrelate biodiversity with human well-being.
Díaz is a world leader in biodiversity and climate change issues in plant ecosystems. One of her main postulates lies in understanding how plants react with the environment and affect other living beings, including humans.
She was one of the first Latin American women to join the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the main scientific body for the evaluation of global Climate Change, and was part of the group of experts who received the Award Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for the work that revealed more than a million species in danger of extinction as a result of human activity.
In 2019 she was considered one of the most outstanding people in science by the magazine Nature. Recently, the academic was recognized by the Linnean Society of London with the Linnean Medal for her outstanding contributions to science. This prize, which has been awarded since 1988, recognizes the outstanding work of scientists from around the world in botany, zoology and ecology.
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