UCFV physicist Tim Cooper won the Outstanding Initiatives award for his work spreading the word about global warming and what we can do to stop it.

There is a problem, however, that Cooper believes is too big to leave to simple economics with no government intervention. It’s the elephant in the room that has been receiving increased attention and concern over the past few years: global warming.

“Back in 1972 my physics teacher told us that his generation had left my generation two big problems: nuclear warfare and global warming, which was then better known as the greenhouse effect,” Cooper recalls. “A couple of years ago I was thinking that I was pretty settled in my life and career, and wondered what I could do to help my kids’ generation. It became pretty obvious to me that global warming was the most urgent issue to address. 

“Once I realized that I had an understanding of most of atmospheric physics and could pick up the rest, I realized I had to spread that information. I realized my best way of contributing was to get out and teach people about the upcoming dangers. I asked myself, if I didn’t do it, who would?”

Cooper took that decision and turned it into a presentation on global warming, which he’s been touring around to community groups in the Fraser Valley and beyond since 2006. For his efforts, he is this year’s recipient of the UCFV Outstanding Initiatives award, given annually to a person or group from the UCFV community who takes on a significant project above and beyond their regular duties.

Cooper says that sometimes environmentalists raise alarms about issues and scientists tend to present research that shows things aren’t as bad as the environmentalists claim.

“In the case of global warming, it’s the scientists, including myself, who are panicking and raising the alarms!”

Cooper started offering to make presentations on the issue of global warming and had already made a few before he heard of and watched Al Gore’s now-famous An Inconvenient Truth film.

“I didn’t learn much science as I’d done my research already but it confirmed my fears and I also got some tips on how to present the material,” he says.

Cooper has been connecting with hundreds of people at the local level, sharing the message that the world faces severe consequences unless we drastically cut the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. He backs up that message with lots of scientific evidence. And although it’s a gloomy message, Cooper is not without hope.

Although he encourages and practises personal measures such as carpooling, reduced vehicle speed, driving a smaller car, biking when you can, and creating an energy efficient home, he says what people really need to do is demand that their governments take some major steps now in the form of a universal tax on carbon-generating fuels, coupled with a corresponding reduction in income and corporate taxes.

“Simple economics say that people will do what’s best for them. This is true at the corporate level too. If we make the fossil fuels that generate the carbon more expensive, people will be discouraged from using them, and motivated to find other alternatives. These alternatives do exist — it’s just that the car manufacturers and industrial fuel consumers don’t see it as in their best interest to use them yet.”
 
Cooper attributes most of his success in getting the word out to a Chilliwack group of concerned citizens who he says have been invaluable in getting him invitations to speak in local groups.

While he acknowledges that a message asking for a shift in taxation away from income and corporate taxes and onto carbon is a hard sell in the traditionally free-enterprise Fraser Valley, he asserts that it’s the best solution he can see to a very pressing issue.

“In the 1880s, the average global temperature was 13.8 degrees centigrade. Now that we’re emitting more carbon than the planet can absorb, it has risen to 14.6 degrees. If we allow it to keep rising to 16 degrees, it will set into motion a chain of events that will exacerbate the problem much more rapidly. The Amazon rainforest will become a savannah. The permafrost in Russia and Canada will melt. And these events will cause even more carbon to be released into the atmosphere, which will then cause the temperature to rise even more, with increasingly disastrous effects.”

We’re already seeing the effects of global warming locally, he says, and it’s actually in the business community’s best interest to support the government’s efforts to reduce Canada carbon emissions.

“The pine beetle epidemic currently hurting our forest industry in B.C. can be attributed to global warming. Parts of Alberta face desertification if things get as bad as they could, and farming in the Fraser Valley would be more difficult too, with a hotter and drier climate.”

He admits that his message is a gloomy one, but insists that it does have a silver lining.

“My main statement is that the sky will fall if we carry on the way we have been, but that there is hope for us if as citizens we demand that or governments act in the best interest of us all through the shifting-to-carbon tax initiative to reduce our collective dependence on fossil fuels. Alternatives do exist.  If we do this one big change we can all continue to live prosperous and happy lives.”

Cooper has spoken to a range of audiences, including  Rotary clubs, student groups, retirees, professional women’s networks, environmental groups, and church groups.

He continues to offer his services as a free guest lecturer to any group that would like to find out more about the global warming problem and possible solutions.

“I really like talking to service clubs, churches, and business groups, where people may not have heard much about the issue yet. I find the average citizen to be very supportive once they are informed about the urgency of the issue. I’m very pleased about the shift in public consciousness. However, I’m depressed that shift has not yet translated to changes in government policy.”

As for receiving the UCFV Outstanding Initiative award for his speaking engagements, he’s happy for the recognition, especially if it helps spread the word.

“I really want people to know that I’m available to speak to any group, at any time that works, and to answer questions.”

If you would like to have UCFV physics professor Tim Cooper speak about the global warming issue to your organization or at an event, contact him at 604-858-8102 (home), 1-888-504-7441, local 4456 (work) or by email at tim.cooper@ucfv.ca .


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