‘Climate Change & You’ lecture by Bill Nye, features Gov. Lewis

Emma Hughes

Gila River Indian News

Arizona State University’s (ASU) Barrett, The Honors College presented the 2024 John J. Rhodes lecture “Climate Change & You” with science educator Bill Nye on March 12, at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

The John J. Rhodes lecture is named after the United States Representative for Arizona, who served from 1952-1982. Rhodes’ commitment to public service and higher education is reflected in the lectures dedicated to discussions and dialogue about challenging issues facing today’s society and impacting the future.

Nye, an engineer, comedian, television presenter, author, and inventor, is perhaps best known for his show “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” His goal is to foster a scientifically literate society and help people of all ages understand and appreciate science.

Nye presented climate change and its harrowing effects, including the increasing temperature brought on by the earth’s growing population. He recalled attending the New York World’s Fair in 1965, where the United Nations had a total of the earth’s population—he and his family just missed witnessing the total change from 2,999,999,999 to 3 billion people.

“Now it’s well over 8 billion,” said Nye, “So in my lifetime, it’s almost tripled.”

He explained that the earth’s atmosphere is very thin, and with over 8 billion people living and breathing, it has increased its warmth.

“The carbon dioxide molecule has this remarkable property where visible light goes past it, but after the visible light strikes the Earth’s surface, some of that energy is absorbed, it’s re-radiated, comes back at a slightly longer wavelength, infrared, and it’s held in by these molecules,” Nye said.

“If we were talking about climate change the way we talk about a bunch of other stuff, we’d be getting (things) done.” Nye urged people to openly discuss climate change and work collectively in order to make impactful changes.

Following the lecture, a panel discussion featured Gila River Indian Community’s Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, Amber Wutich, Center for Global Health president’s professor and director, and Tara Williams, Barrett Honors College dean and moderator the discussion, which focused on climate change and water issues.

“I was honored to be invited,” said Gov. Lewis, “I was able to talk about Gila River Indian Community, our linkage, our historical perspective to our ancestors, to the Huhugam.”

Gov. Lewis appreciated the opportunity to share the Community’s connection with water and serve as water protectors, especially during the historic drought in the Colorado River Basin and what’s being done to conserve it.

He shared the Community’s solar panels over canals, the reclaimed pipeline, and Managed Aquifer Recharge Site 5 (MAR-5) which provides irrigation to support thousands of acres of farmlands and the ecosystem native to the area.

Gov. Lewis said, “It’s on us to respect the natural world, our water and our land and use science in a very productive way that brings us together, that we don’t lose our humanity in the process.”