WEBVTT 00:02.980 --> 00:07.610 SPEAKER 1: She has been called her deepness, a living legend, 00:07.610 --> 00:09.890 and a hero for the planet. 00:09.890 --> 00:13.960 Dr Sylvia Earle is an explorer in residence 00:13.960 --> 00:16.030 at the National Geographic Society. 00:16.930 --> 00:19.810 She is the founder and chairwoman of Mission Blue. 00:20.770 --> 00:25.300 She is the founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Incorporated. 00:25.900 --> 00:29.290 She is the former first female chief scientist at 00:29.290 --> 00:32.110 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 00:32.830 --> 00:36.729 She is a founding advisory board chair for the Harte Research Institute 00:36.729 --> 00:40.780 for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 00:41.620 --> 00:46.780 And she is the inspiration for the ocean in Google Earth. 00:48.360 --> 00:53.945 She has experience as a field research scientist, a government official, 00:53.945 --> 00:58.065 and a director for corporate and non-profit organizations. 00:58.065 --> 01:01.650 SPEAKER 1: Dr Earle has a Bachelor of Science degree 01:01.650 --> 01:04.560 from Florida State University and Master 01:04.560 --> 01:06.569 of Science and a doctoral degree from 01:06.569 --> 01:10.380 Duke University, 27 honorary degrees. 01:11.220 --> 01:14.160 And she has authored more than 200 scientific, 01:14.160 --> 01:16.800 technical and popular publications, 01:16.800 --> 01:18.540 including more than a dozen books. 01:20.050 --> 01:23.080 She has led more than 100 ocean expeditions 01:23.530 --> 01:27.310 and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater. 01:28.750 --> 01:32.560 One of my favorite stories of Dr Earle's career achievements 01:32.890 --> 01:35.980 was when she accepted the challenge and successfully 01:35.980 --> 01:41.170 led an all-female team of aquanauts living underwater for 01:41.170 --> 01:45.190 two straight weeks during the Tektite Project in 1970. 01:46.970 --> 01:49.790 She has also led the development and use of emerging 01:49.790 --> 01:52.520 technologies to access and study the deep sea. 01:54.470 --> 01:56.786 SPEAKER 1: Dr Earle is an award-winning oceanographer, 01:56.786 --> 02:00.380 a masterful storyteller, and a brave explorer. 02:01.070 --> 02:04.160 She has dedicated her career through scientific research 02:04.160 --> 02:07.370 and exploration to protect the Earth's oceans. 02:07.610 --> 02:09.650 One hope spot at a time. 02:11.139 --> 02:15.070 Her courage to explore new frontiers, break social barriers, 02:15.070 --> 02:19.240 and champion ocean conservation has inspired countless 02:19.240 --> 02:20.770 numbers of people around the world. 02:22.120 --> 02:26.230 Please help me give a very warm welcome to one of the most highly 02:26.230 --> 02:29.670 celebrated and deeply respected scientists of our time. 02:29.670 --> 02:33.820 Dr Sylvia Earle, thank you so much for being with us today. 02:35.080 --> 02:37.300 DR SYLVIA EARLE: Thank you for that generous introduction. 02:37.300 --> 02:41.965 And thank you for having me here as a part of the action. 02:41.965 --> 02:46.389 There are so many reasons that people give for 02:46.389 --> 02:49.720 being disheartened at this point in time. 02:50.440 --> 02:55.400 You think about all of the issues that are in the headlines, 02:55.400 --> 02:58.850 but all things considered. 02:59.630 --> 03:04.550 If you had to choose a moment in time to be 03:04.550 --> 03:07.790 around being a 21st century human being, 03:08.690 --> 03:11.120 I think would be the best time ever. 03:12.050 --> 03:13.190 Why do I say that? 03:14.990 --> 03:20.330 Because of what we now know that even the smartest people 03:20.840 --> 03:26.500 who ever lived even 50 years ago, could not know. 03:26.500 --> 03:29.765 It's not that they didn't want to have answers to big questions. 03:29.765 --> 03:34.700 But it's only right about now that we have evidence 03:34.700 --> 03:37.685 that has taken all preceding time. 03:37.685 --> 03:41.300 DR SYLVIA EARLE: The human is asking and trying to answer the questions 03:41.300 --> 03:47.690 that we've got a new way of looking at 03:47.690 --> 03:51.980 ourselves and a relationship to the living world 03:52.520 --> 03:54.950 and certainly our relationship to water. 03:58.760 --> 04:04.040 Perhaps the most important moment, if you have to choose one, 04:05.210 --> 04:07.460 was in December of 1968, 04:07.460 --> 04:14.270 when the young astronaut with a camera in his hands, 04:14.600 --> 04:19.090 looked out and took a picture of Earth from space, 04:19.090 --> 04:26.500 and said that the fact that the world is blue, 04:26.500 --> 04:31.370 it's a water planet not only changed his perspective, 04:32.600 --> 04:35.150 but it was a shockwave 04:35.180 --> 04:41.660 of awareness that really focused the world's attention on, 04:41.660 --> 04:45.349 first of all, how little small Earth is in 04:45.349 --> 04:49.790 the universe that is incomprehensibly vast. 04:51.460 --> 04:56.529 DR SYLVIA EARLE: And that this place is the only place with the right ingredients, 04:57.010 --> 05:01.720 rocks, water, and life that makes our existence possible. 05:02.750 --> 05:06.880 I think one of the most important concepts that has come out of that, 05:07.510 --> 05:12.140 the awareness of Earth as a special place in the universe is, 05:12.140 --> 05:13.980 so everything is connected. 05:13.980 --> 05:20.180 So, here we are today talking about Texas water, the coastal water, 05:20.180 --> 05:24.550 the estuaries where salt water and fresh water come together. 05:26.380 --> 05:29.140 But now, we know we also have to think in 05:29.140 --> 05:32.529 the context of what's happening in Antarctica, 05:33.160 --> 05:38.260 what's happening in the rainforest of South America and Africa. 05:39.339 --> 05:47.309 We have to think in terms of something that kids are now learning that, 05:47.309 --> 05:52.136 I didn't know about when I was a kid. 05:52.136 --> 05:57.670 DR SYLVIA EARLE: I suppose somewhere along the way, I learned about the water cycle, 05:58.660 --> 06:01.960 about how water is in constant motion, 06:03.150 --> 06:07.120 that what you choose any place on a planet. 06:07.630 --> 06:10.180 Well, let's choose Texas estuaries. 06:10.990 --> 06:14.800 Where did that water that flows into the ocean? 06:14.800 --> 06:16.587 Where is the water in the ocean? 06:16.587 --> 06:17.770 Where does it all come from? 06:18.520 --> 06:19.510 Follow the water. 06:21.310 --> 06:25.540 We might have wished to be able to do this when I was a child, 06:26.470 --> 06:30.610 but nobody had the level of understanding that now exists, 06:31.120 --> 06:35.140 that makes it possible to follow the water and realize 06:36.339 --> 06:39.160 this is not just a physical-chemical process. 06:40.330 --> 06:45.460 As Ruth Patrick made clear during her lifetime of 06:45.460 --> 06:49.270 looking at freshwater and connections to the sea. 06:50.380 --> 06:51.730 This is a living planet. 06:52.480 --> 06:55.590 Following the water means following life, 06:55.590 --> 06:59.589 and you realize that we're all connected to it. 07:00.580 --> 07:10.000 DR SYLVIA EARLE: I love the little quote by W H Auden that many have lived without love, 07:10.690 --> 07:12.760 but none without water. 07:13.940 --> 07:20.440 Water is the single unifying element that all life requires. 07:20.440 --> 07:24.640 From the diatoms that Ruth Patrick studied 07:25.210 --> 07:28.540 with a passion as a young scientist right 07:28.540 --> 07:31.180 up to the very end of her days, 07:31.990 --> 07:37.000 realizing that the little guys, the plankton, 07:37.810 --> 07:42.010 the bacteria, the microbes have an outsized 07:42.010 --> 07:44.800 role despite their tiny size, 07:45.580 --> 07:51.850 their numbers, their role in governing the water cycle is immense. 07:52.810 --> 07:59.835 And another hero of mine, Ruth Patrick was certainly one. 07:59.835 --> 08:06.000 But more recently, a young woman at MIT, 08:06.000 --> 08:12.060 with fellow scientists in an expedition in 1986, 08:12.060 --> 08:17.060 discovered another tiny superpower organism, 08:17.060 --> 08:21.720 Prochlorococcus blue-green bacterium that generates on 08:21.720 --> 08:25.785 the order of 20% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. 08:25.785 --> 08:31.440 DR SYLVIA EARLE: And also captures much of the energy that is turned into food along 08:31.440 --> 08:37.020 with diatoms and other microorganisms in freshwater in the ocean. 08:37.980 --> 08:47.949 By far, the dominant organisms that really maintain, 08:47.949 --> 08:52.309 not just the oxygen cycle and the carbon dioxide cycle, 08:52.309 --> 08:55.950 carbon cycle, if you will, 08:56.429 --> 09:01.290 but are so important in the water cycle capturing carbon dioxide 09:01.290 --> 09:05.340 and water to generate food and release oxygen into the atmosphere. 09:05.980 --> 09:08.550 Well, Penny Chisholm and her colleagues really 09:08.550 --> 09:10.740 discovered this blue-green bacterium for 09:10.740 --> 09:14.220 the first time in an expedition out in the Sargasso Sea, 09:14.790 --> 09:16.989 far from Texas, alright? 09:16.989 --> 09:20.490 Except that it all connects. 09:23.370 --> 09:31.470 And we know in the 21st century or able for the first time, 09:31.470 --> 09:34.860 perhaps in all of history, to look back on, 09:35.309 --> 09:38.340 how do we know what we now know? 09:39.270 --> 09:47.070 DR SYLVIA EARLE: And isn't it time, perhaps to hit the refresh button, if you will? 09:48.350 --> 09:53.910 Let's pause and think, what are we now 09:54.300 --> 09:59.100 doing with our laws, our policies, 09:59.100 --> 10:07.040 our habits that are born of all human history 10:09.050 --> 10:13.460 shaped very largely by our relationship 10:14.030 --> 10:21.350 with water where cities are established 10:22.400 --> 10:24.815 largely governed by where's the water. 10:24.815 --> 10:27.650 Where's the water because everybody needs water. 10:28.490 --> 10:33.250 It is not just for drinking, and for washing, and all of that. 10:33.250 --> 10:36.110 It is for growing the crops that we need for food. 10:36.620 --> 10:38.900 Just again, 21st century. 10:38.910 --> 10:45.079 Let's look back in time and reflect on how water,r 10:45.079 --> 10:48.770 the distribution of freshwater and saltwater has shaped, 10:49.220 --> 10:53.090 where people live and how we behave, 10:54.080 --> 11:02.870 and how it has governed our policies about channeling water 11:03.950 --> 11:09.020 to suit what we understand to be our human purposes. 11:10.309 --> 11:17.059 DR SYLVIA EARLE: So, we have built societies that really are 11:17.059 --> 11:20.390 structured around where the rivers are, 11:20.390 --> 11:24.559 where the dams are to command the water 11:24.559 --> 11:26.330 to flow where we want it to flow, 11:26.990 --> 11:32.990 for our agriculture, for our domestic and industrial purposes. 11:35.300 --> 11:39.679 And we've done all of this really with the belief that 11:39.679 --> 11:44.980 we can control the water, that we can control nature. 11:46.700 --> 11:50.400 And again, sitting back here in the 21st century, 11:50.400 --> 11:54.679 looking at how we have behaved toward water historically, 11:55.460 --> 11:58.070 we've done a pretty good job of telling 11:58.070 --> 12:00.380 the water to go where we want it to go. 12:02.260 --> 12:07.300 We also can reflect on how we get surprised, 12:08.030 --> 12:12.370 how the laws of nature really are the laws that we 12:12.370 --> 12:17.170 need to fundamentally respect as we develop our own policies, 12:17.170 --> 12:20.350 our own habits, and our own laws. 12:21.160 --> 12:26.530 DR SYLVIA EARLE: They have to be consistent with and harmonious with the laws of nature. 12:27.820 --> 12:32.400 It seems so logical when you think about it. 12:34.250 --> 12:39.856 But until right about now, early in the 21st century, 12:39.856 --> 12:46.470 we haven't thought about it in the sense that we still 12:46.470 --> 12:51.540 have this attitude of we can control the water, 12:51.540 --> 12:57.360 when actually water is a pretty good job of controlling us. 12:57.950 --> 12:58.150 Yeah. 13:00.900 --> 13:06.030 A few years ago, I was invited to a dinner in Singapore, 13:07.860 --> 13:15.090 and our host was the environmental Minister of Singapore. 13:15.480 --> 13:18.330 This little island country, far from Texas. 13:19.230 --> 13:28.570 But the policies that were in motion in Singapore then 13:29.440 --> 13:35.320 and in motion around the world even now governing the water, 13:35.950 --> 13:39.295 we were told at that dinner by the environmental minister, 13:39.295 --> 13:44.530 they were so pleased to announce that they're finally putting into place 13:45.070 --> 13:51.220 the very last dam that would contain all of the freshwater in Singapore. 13:51.670 --> 13:54.670 DR SYLVIA EARLE: Not one drop was going to be allowed to flow 13:54.670 --> 13:58.210 back into the sea and therefore be wasted. 13:59.980 --> 14:06.440 It's an attitude that is not uncommon to think that any 14:06.559 --> 14:10.580 freshwater within that island country or in any coastal 14:10.580 --> 14:13.580 area that is allowed to escape into the ocean is 14:13.580 --> 14:16.460 somehow wasted that we need all that freshwater. 14:16.910 --> 14:19.910 We need to use it for our industry or agriculture, 14:19.910 --> 14:24.220 for our own domestic use. 14:24.220 --> 14:28.880 And I couldn't contain myself. 14:29.060 --> 14:33.200 I just had to ask the question, what about the mangroves? 14:33.710 --> 14:38.180 What about the estuaries that have previously 14:38.330 --> 14:40.970 prospered along the coasts of Singapore? 14:41.510 --> 14:46.700 I could ask the same questions right now in Texas and Louisiana, 14:47.900 --> 14:49.430 all around the Gulf of Mexico, 14:50.780 --> 14:52.887 looking at the Middle East, where, again, 14:52.887 --> 14:57.110 fresh water is a serious commodity, if you will. 14:57.260 --> 15:00.920 DR SYLVIA EARLE: Every drop is considered precious, and it should be. 15:01.850 --> 15:11.420 But for us to believe that our laws can overcome the laws of 15:11.420 --> 15:16.340 nature is coming back right now to haunt us in a major way. 15:16.340 --> 15:19.400 Because look at the consequences of trying 15:20.330 --> 15:24.380 to command the water to do our bidding. 15:26.900 --> 15:29.900 Civilizations of common, civilizations have 15:29.900 --> 15:35.330 fallen based on how we have either 15:35.330 --> 15:41.015 respected or not respected the laws of nature when it comes to water. 15:41.015 --> 15:49.970 And to realize that this is not just a physical-chemical process. 15:51.260 --> 15:58.130 It is working with a natural living world, the will in the future. 15:59.630 --> 16:03.930 Either we will respect this, the laws of nature, 16:03.930 --> 16:06.290 and how the water cycle functions. 16:06.290 --> 16:10.730 DR SYLVIA EARLE: Or we will fail to do so and we'll continue 16:10.730 --> 16:12.650 to see some of the major issues that 16:12.650 --> 16:18.230 now are concerning us with respect to flooding, with respect to drought, 16:18.800 --> 16:25.310 with respect to our interference with rather than our understanding 16:25.310 --> 16:34.430 of the natural flow of water and how the natural systems, 16:34.700 --> 16:39.590 the marshes, the mangroves, the seagrass meadows, upstream, 16:39.590 --> 16:43.070 and far down into the ocean are all connected. 16:43.550 --> 16:47.180 Lucky us, perhaps for the first time, 16:47.180 --> 16:50.630 able to draw those connections and to 16:50.900 --> 16:52.670 look at what we're presently doing. 16:54.340 --> 17:00.310 And think about what needs to be done to refresh our thinking, 17:01.990 --> 17:05.830 to pause and to think in terms of the living 17:06.460 --> 17:10.810 systems that govern the water cycle, 17:11.830 --> 17:18.220 that really we need to figure out how to better fit in rather than 17:18.220 --> 17:27.220 to try to govern and reverse the laws of nature in our favor. 17:28.540 --> 17:31.340 DR SYLVIA EARLE: In the end, that's simply not possible. 17:31.359 --> 17:33.220 We can change our own laws. 17:33.850 --> 17:36.040 We can reverse some of our own policies. 17:36.760 --> 17:40.990 We can look at our own habits and say, Oh, we can do better. 17:42.100 --> 17:48.760 We can understand that marshes are not just wastelands that 17:48.760 --> 17:52.900 need to be converted to something more important to humans. 17:53.710 --> 17:58.420 That marshes, mangroves, seagrass meadows are 17:58.420 --> 18:01.660 critical to the flow of water into living 18:01.660 --> 18:06.130 systems that are connected back to our prosperity, 18:06.130 --> 18:08.740 our health, our use of water. 18:10.000 --> 18:10.450 So. 18:12.050 --> 18:14.182 I know there's some questions that are 18:14.182 --> 18:19.350 now on the table about how we manage, 18:19.350 --> 18:23.310 how people manage the flow of water in Texas, 18:24.720 --> 18:27.780 how every drop is accounted for in one way or 18:27.780 --> 18:32.310 the other by the laws that we have put in place. 18:34.840 --> 18:41.022 DR SYLVIA EARLE: And maybe that this point really exciting to understand 18:41.022 --> 18:46.820 that respect for the flow of water, 18:47.810 --> 18:52.310 the importance of the estuaries, not just as water, 18:52.970 --> 18:58.220 but the living systems, how important that is back to us, 18:58.430 --> 19:02.540 back to the flow of water, the water cycle, and the cycle of life, 19:03.140 --> 19:08.090 our prosperity linked to the prosperity and the health of 19:08.090 --> 19:12.746 the freshwater that flows into the Gulf and of the Gulf itself. 19:12.746 --> 19:21.490 So, I could go on and talk about how they're spending 1,000s 19:21.490 --> 19:27.520 of hours out in the Gulf of Mexico submerged and being a part of that 19:27.820 --> 19:34.060 living gulf that brings water back into the atmosphere that falls 19:34.060 --> 19:39.550 back on the land and sea to look at the tiny microscopic creatures that 19:39.550 --> 19:44.140 do the heavy lifting in terms of generating oxygen capturing carbon, 19:44.140 --> 19:47.800 part of the water cycle, part of the cycle of life. 19:49.540 --> 19:58.390 DR SYLVIA EARLE: But really, I would love to spend time right now to hear from you, 19:58.869 --> 20:00.160 to hear your questions. 20:00.820 --> 20:01.750 To hear your thoughts. 20:02.109 --> 20:03.160 To learn from you. 20:03.550 --> 20:05.980 I'm not sure how much you can learn from me, 20:06.550 --> 20:09.430 but I think from discussing the issues and looking 20:09.430 --> 20:13.980 at where we are at this point in time, 20:13.990 --> 20:18.730 armed with unprecedented insight into those connections, 20:18.730 --> 20:24.850 how the marshes, the wildlife, the upstream, the downstream, 20:25.450 --> 20:28.750 how the water cycle, how our current laws 20:29.109 --> 20:34.570 or future policies might be the topic, 20:35.170 --> 20:41.650 they can forge a future that is more in harmony with the natural 20:41.650 --> 20:48.490 living systems that really relate directly and indirectly, 20:48.490 --> 20:51.070 but ultimately, how it all connects. 20:51.070 --> 20:57.700 DR SYLVIA EARLE: And what you can do right now armed with not just knowledge, 20:57.700 --> 21:04.780 but maybe a big slice of wisdom about how we can take the facts, 21:04.780 --> 21:07.040 the figures, the history, 21:07.040 --> 21:12.190 and plan of future that would be better for not just Texas, 21:12.820 --> 21:17.530 but looking at how policies in Texas really 21:17.530 --> 21:20.130 connect to the rest of the world. 21:20.130 --> 21:24.670 So, could we open the door for questions? 21:25.390 --> 21:25.960 I'm ready.