Geneticist and environmental activist David Suzuki said Tuesday night that humanity has only a brief amount of time to act before global climate change leads to the extinction of the species.
Suzuki spoke at the Memorial Union Theater as part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate's Distinguished Lecture Series.
""He looks unflinchingly at the destructive forces of globalization, yet he offers a vision of hope,"" UW-Madison business professor Tom Eggert said, introducing Dr. Suzuki.
Suzuki has written over 40 books on ecology and was voted one of the top five Canadians of all time in a 2004 Canadian poll, according to Eggert. Suzuki has also hosted the Canadian Broadcasting Company's scientific ""The Nature of Things"" show since 1979.
""This is the moment where we are going to have to make major decisions on how we live on this planet,"" Suzuki said.
The exponential growth of the human population is largely responsible for humans' increased impact on the environment, according to Suzuki. He said humans were part of largely tribal, rural societies for the majority of their existence, but that has changed within the past century.
""In my lifetime, the population of the earth has more than tripled,"" Suzuki said.
The effects of globalization and urbanization are primary forces disconnecting humanity from its environmental impact, according to Suzuki. He said living in cities—and not rural villages—prevents society from realizing that earth provides essential resources, such as water and animals to eat.
Suzuki continued, saying that economic ideas of consistent upward growth associated with globalization, like business plans for growing companies, neglect concepts of environmental sustainability.
Ecology must be elevated above economics to ensure human survival, Suzuki said.
Students reacted positively to Suzuki, as nearly the entire auditorium gave him a standing ovation.
""It was probably the best Distinguished Lecture Series speaker I've seen in my four years here,"" said UW-Madison senior Alli Vincent, of Suzuki's speech.
Sponsors of the event included The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the University Bookstore, University Housing, Chadbourne Residential College and the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.
