Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on the Climate Crisis: “We Don’t Get to Give Up” | Amanpour and Company

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a leading marine biologist and climate policy expert, offers a hopeful look at how to confront the climate crisis gripping our world — and flourish in the process. Johnson sits down with Hari Sreenivasan to discuss her vision for a thriving, sustainable future. She explains how a diverse set of experts in fields such as farming, finance, and fashion helped to shape her ideas.

Originally aired on September 18, 2024

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Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, Candace King Weir, the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust, Mark J. Blechner, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation, Seton J. Melvin, the Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund, Charles Rosenblum, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Barbara Hope Zuckerberg, and Jeffrey Katz and Beth Rogers.

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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

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[ScottRiddleArtist]

We definitely need more of this young ladies presents in the world. Intelligent, realistic, but at the same time, optimistic in a educated realistic manner. I’m definitely supporting her and buying this book.

[neilifill]

Dr Johnson is always the most clear-eyed scientist. She offers lucid discussion of the concepts. She’s a gift to the academy!

[johnmcandrew]

Just finished an advance reading copy of this book. My takeaway is that people are doing the work. They know the challenges. They don't blow smoke up their own orifices. No one knows if it will be enough, just as no one knew that marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge would result in certain victory for civil rights. You start where you are, with what you have, beginning with friends, family, and co-workers, and you start doing what you can do, what you know needs doing. And you give no time or attention to the naysayers who say there is no problem. They are few, in the first place, and you're busy working with your colleagues.

[Interglacial_optimist]

I manage a protected wetlands.
Behind my property was a three acre lake that they drained and put in a new housing subdivision.
My wetlands is now parched cracked open. The geese the mallard And the great blue heron are gone.
But I did pick up several dozen giant painted Turtle That were looking for a new home... After eating my fish they left... Now my trees are dying.. But you should see those brand new mcmansions... The kids will love playing on the driveway, the sidewalk and in the street.
But since there isn't a tree to be seen the surfaces too hot..
More like a skillet to cook your kids on.
Thanks

[tw]

Thank you professor. I needed to hear this.

[carrierpierre]

It's not that "we can't all go to Mars", it's simply that "we can't --- go to Mars".

[Interglacial_optimist]

A road is a dead zone.
A twenty lane wide road is a really big fat dead zone.
We built a world for cars Not for pedestrians.

[LoganGraceHope]

Please do a story on how ethanol plants are so toxic to people who live near them. The levels of PM2.5 levels where I live are often between 10-13. Many residents have breathing problems (stated by my cardiologist) from the factory.

[freeheeler]

Amen, we have the solutions available. We just have to get off of our back ends and solve this problem.

[climateteacherjohnj]

You have to address the billionaire's viewpoint. It's not much different from the Trump viewpoint. It's called, "everything is mine so, I win at your expense."

[radman]

The only thing that matters is the 42 million tons of CO2 we are adding to the atmosphere annually. This amount is increasing every single year ( so the wind and solar are not replacing anything, just adding to more "civilization" ). Can you say extinction?

[michaelboguski]

Borrowing Money to buy stuff you don't need; then buying Insurance against losing it, sounds like Capitalism.

[JWREnvironment]

I completely agree with Dr. Johnson that we have the knowledge and technology to lower greenhouse gas emissions and that many experts and technologists can show the benefits of dropping emissions from transportation and industry. Hats off to her for highlighting how moving toward the solutions we already know about and working on further solutions will bring real benefits. Just keeping our farms in working status will save us trillions in the long term! And we will save billions every year from fewer respiratory problems from particulates and other smog! Thanks to PBS for presenting this excellent speaker and informing us about her book. I will definitely pick it up for a close read.

[AwakentheWorld]

We have had many of the solutions available for decades...yet have done little. Forces seeking to maintain their capitalist control have spent billions ensuring we don't take the corrective actions we need.

Furthermore...we have already "baked in" enough heat and sea level rise to ruin the majority of coastal cities...

It's not about solutions; it's about collective will in the populace...🤔G

[ja]

What a nice interview. So clear, productive and positive

[johnishikawa]

We need to VOTE so that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have BOTH chambers of Congress after November . VOTE BLUE💙 🇺🇸

[jaymacpherson]

How do we balance that sense of urgency? Make responsible behavior a habit. Dr. Johnson has many good examples of responsible behavior.

[Interglacial_optimist]

What if we get it right?
We aren't doing anything but making it worse.

[tinoyb]

8 billion humans on the planet and counting. Saving the planet is "worth it?" Seriously? We're talking about existence.

[alphaomega]

The earth will not miss us, the crows, and pigeon may.