‘Where did I go wrong?’ The scientist who tried to raise the climate alarm

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 10:56:27 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/20/where-did-i-go-wrong-the-scientist-who-tried-to-raise-the-climate-alarm>

"“I often wonder: where did I go wrong?” Graeme Pearman says. “Why didn’t
people respond? Is that my responsibility?”

When Guardian Australia meets him at his home on the outskirts of Melbourne,
the veteran climate scientist is frustrated.

“If you go through the whole process and the rigour of conducting science, [you
think] at the end of the day surely people will understand what you’re saying –
they will incorporate those risks into what they do,” he says.

“Well, it doesn’t work that way.

“The reality is that for a period of nearly two decades, Australia went
backwards [on climate action]. From a personal perspective, yes, it’s
frustrating.”

Outside two alpacas are busy keeping the grass down. A pergola over a deck is
heaving with pink wisteria flowers and inside on a kitchen bench Pearman has
been struggling with an impossible jigsaw of a Van Gogh painting.

The calmness and lazy beauty of it all is jarring, given we’re here to talk
about his life’s work studying a phenomenon that could send countless species
extinct, reshape coastlines from rising seas and supercharge storms and
wildfires."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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