Brief background

Why am I passionate about the future of planet Earth, even though I have no children and won't live long enough to see the outcome of changes proposed in this blog?

It's a long story that started as I grew up in Los Angeles in the early 50's. My father taught business classes at USC, so I had the opportunity to spend time at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, the La Brea Tar Pits, the sea shore, nearby mountains, etc. As a child, my mother lived on a small farm in southern Illinois and deeply enjoyed nature. She was born in 1920 and experienced the dust bowl era first hand. Looking back on my early years, I think what impressed me most about the museums, exhibits and travels was the Earth's wide diversity of environments and the magnitude of change they exhibit over time. The laws of nature loomed large as I gazed a the fossilized remains of extinct creatures.

Later, I spent 20 years at Arizona State University receiving a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Zoology while specializing in the ecology and systematics of marine and freshwater micro-crustaceans. Still later I made an ironic shift into the business world and a real estate career, after moving to the Central Coast of California in the mid 80's.

I still think like a scientist, but discovered that way of thinking can be a big obstacle in addressing Climate Change, particularly within the context of real estate, agents and the public they represent. Fortunately, the Grist piece appeared in a perfectly timed tweet just as a friend and I were sorting out the frustration of extremely thin support for the needed changes in lifestyle among organizations, governments and a major portion of the population. Timing is everything -- in real estate and reducing CO2 emissions!

Next post will focus on the original paper behind David Roberts' Grist piece (Climate and moral judgement, Ezra M. Markowitz and Azim F. Shariff, Nature Climate Change, Vol 2, April 2012). I'll comment on what's there, what isn't, then further suggest how their work might point outreach efforts in more productive directions.