Earth Day and the MIT Community

To the members of the MIT community,

Greetings, on this 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day.

Right now, we humans feel lost in time and almost frozen in space. But outside our windows, nature keeps running its own clock; here along the Charles as around the world, it is instructive to see the natural world faring perfectly fine without us.

Unfortunately, while we are preoccupied with the present wave of human suffering, the rolling devastation of Earth’s ecosystem carries on too. If this spring had unfolded according to the pre-Covid plan, today would have featured the last in a series of symposia designed to focus our community on how best to use MIT’s distinctive strengths in the fight to slow and adapt to damaging effects of climate change.

As I argue in an op-ed in the Boston Globe, the ongoing struggle to respond to Covid-19 holds important lessons about the kind of scientific advances and humane leadership it will take to succeed in the climate fight. I confess that this subject feels very close to home, because the past few weeks have showcased the finest qualities of our community, from brilliant hands-on problem solving and incomparable analysis and policymaking to an inspiring sense of adaptability, openhearted kindness, and a passion for service.

The painful challenges imposed by the virus will surely demand our attention for some time to come. But I am more convinced than ever that on climate – the defining challenge of this century – our community is also poised to do a world of good.

Sincerely,

L. Rafael Reif