Dan Connors

“I used to think optimists were naive and pessimists were smart. Pessimism seemed like an essential feature of a scientist: the basis of science is to challenge every result, to pick theories apart to see which one stands up. I thought cynicism was one of its founding principals. Maybe there is some truth in that. But science is inherently optimistic too. How else would we describe the willingness to try experiments over and over, often with slim odds of success? Scientific progress can be frustratingly slow: the best minds can dedicate their entire lives to a single question and come away with nothing. They do so with the hope that a breakthrough is around the corner. The odds drop to zero if they give up.”
― Hannah Ritchie, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

“The rest goes to livestock or biofuels. The same is true for soy. We could simply repurpose that food, or repurpose that land to grow different crops. This all sounds very simple in principle but getting people to change behaviours is difficult. I don’t think that enough people will make this change based on the ethical pull alone. If we’re to change how people eat across the world we’re going to need some new, tasty, meat-like products”
― Hannah Ritchie, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

“Between 2013 and 2020, Beijing’s pollution levels fell by 55%.6 Across China as a whole, they fell by 40%.”
― Hannah Ritchie, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

“Air pollution is one of the world’s biggest killers. Researchers estimate that it kills at least 9 million people every year. That’s 450 times more than die in natural disasters in most years.”
― Hannah Ritchie, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet