250px|E. O. Wilson 250px|Wilson and Raven pose with their Verrill Medals. In a "fireside chat" at Yale University on Wednesday, prominent naturalists Edward O. Wilson and Peter H. Raven predicted dire consequences for the planet's biodiversity and habitability unless current trends in consumption and environmental degradation are reversed. The two scientists were awarded the Addison Emery Verrill Medal by the Peabody Museum of Natural History for their contributions to natural science before a capacity crowd at Yale's Sprague Hall. Both are known for their environmental activism as well as extensive research and popular writing. Raven and Wilson both argued for the compatibility of christian and environmentalist viewpoints. According to the second chapter of Genesis, said Raven, man was put on the earth in order to preserve it. Wilson said that we need to "form an alliance" to save life on earth—an alliance including both religious and non-religious people—and that one can be a "conservative right-wing Christian" and an environmentalist. His recent work, including the Encyclopedia of Life, has focused on creating such an alliance. The most important thing, Raven said, is to expose children to nature. Invoking the argument of Rachel Carson's 1965 A Sense of Wonder, Raven said that children between the ages of 4 and 10 are extremely impressionable, and that teaching them to appreciate the natural world will be the most effective way to ensure environmental consciousness in the next generation. But although Raven was a naturalist from a young age, he said that he "didn't give a thought to conservation" while in graduate school in the 1950s. Carson's 1962 book on the dangers of pesticides, Silent Spring, was Raven's introduction to dangers of environmental degradation. Wilson also emphasized Carson's legacy for the environmental movement; he proudly noted that Carson biographer Linda Lear had recently called him the "only surviving person who actually helped Rachel Carson" put together Silent Spring.
250px|E. O. Wilson 250px|Wilson and Raven pose with their Verrill Medals. In a "fireside chat" at Yale University on Wednesday, prominent naturalists Edward O. Wilson and Peter H. Raven predicted dire consequences for the planet's biodiversity and habitability unless current trends in consumption and environmental degradation are reversed. The two scientists were awarded the Addison Emery Verrill Medal by the Peabody Museum of Natural History for their contributions to natural science before a capacity crowd at Yale's Sprague Hall. Both are known for their environmental activism as well as extensive research and popular writing. Raven and Wilson both argued for the compatibility of Christian and environmentalist viewpoints. According to the second chapter of Genesis, said Raven, man was put on the earth in order to preserve it. Wilson said that we need to "form an alliance" to save life on earth—an alliance including both religious and non-religious people—and that one can be a "conservative right-wing Christian" and an environmentalist. His recent work, including the Encyclopedia of Life, has focused on creating such an alliance. The most important thing, Raven said, is to expose children to nature. Invoking the argument of Rachel Carson's 1965 A Sense of Wonder, Raven said that children between the ages of four and ten are extremely impressionable, and that teaching them to appreciate the natural world will be the most effective way to ensure environmental consciousness in the next generation. But although Raven was a naturalist from a young age, he said that he "didn't give a thought to conservation" while in graduate school in the 1950s. Carson's 1962 book on the dangers of pesticides, Silent Spring, was Raven's introduction to dangers of environmental degradation. Wilson also emphasized Carson's legacy for the environmental movement; he proudly noted that Carson biographer Linda Lear had recently called him the "only surviving person who actually helped Rachel Carson" put together Silent Spring.
R
christian
Christian
R
4 and 10
four and ten