--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All the things that we've done as a…" description: "\"All the things that we've done as a species have had a limited scope. We're talking about melting the ice caps, raising the level of the seas dramatica..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/bill-mckibben-1057_caps_all-the-things-that-we-ve-done-as-a-spec_1768475.jpg" --- # All the things that we've done as a species have had a… ![“All the things that we've done as a species have had a limited scope. We're talking about melting the ice caps, raising the level of the seas dramatically, changing the distribution of every other species on Earth, perhaps wiping out one-third or half of them. The changes at work are geologic in…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/bill-mckibben-1057_caps_all-the-things-that-we-ve-done-as-a-spec_1768475.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/bill-mckibben-1057_caps_all-the-things-that-we-ve-done-as-a-spec_1768475.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88e/bill-mckibben-1057_caps_all-the-things-that-we-ve-done-as-a-spec_1768475.jpg) > “All the things that we've done as a species have had a limited scope. We're talking about melting the ice caps, raising the level of the seas dramatically, changing the distribution of every other species on Earth, perhaps wiping out one-third or half of them. The changes at work are geologic in scale. The level of change required to deal with it is enormous, too. It will require change in every country. It will require a degree of global cooperation that we haven't seen before.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human activity has caused massive, geological-scale environmental changes, demanding unprecedented global cooperation to mitigate. **In simple terms:** Human actions are reshaping Earth; we need worldwide cooperation. Key Takeaway Promote collective action on climate change. Themes environment global cooperation scale Mood urgent determined Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - international agreements - education - activism Key Concepts climate science collective responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What can individuals do to foster global cooperation? - How can nations overcome competing priorities? A Different Perspective Cooperation is hindered by political and economic interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Cooperation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooperation/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Scope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scope/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Wiping out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wiping-out/) ## Related quotes > [The distribution of species on islands and continents throughout the world is exactly what you'd expect if evolution was a fact. The distribution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-distribution-of-species-on-islands-and-continents-throughout-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Paris climate agreement may be a harbinger of the spirit and mindset needed to sustain genuine global cooperation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stiglitz/the-paris-climate-agreement-may-be-a-harbinger-of-the-spirit-and/) [Joseph Stiglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stiglitz/) > [We are willing to uphold principles that have resulted in unprecedented prosperity and security throughout Europe and around the world. With the threat of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-are-willing-to-uphold-principles-that-have-resulted-in/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [All the major problems of the world today are global in essence, and they cannot be solved unless through some kind of global cooperation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/all-the-major-problems-of-the-world-today-are-global-in-essence-and/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Global cooperation - dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries - is good. It's very important. But there is no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/global-cooperation-dealing-with-other-countries-getting-along-with/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [It may seem daunting, but I am a prisoner of hope. We are more connected than ever before, we have more knowledge, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/it-may-seem-daunting-but-i-am-a-prisoner-of-hope-we-are-more/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [What began in deadly competition has helped us to see that global cooperation is the essential precondition for our survival. Travel is broadening. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-began-in-deadly-competition-has-helped-us-to-see-that-global/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Whatever the reason we first mustered the \_Apollo\_ program, however mired it was in Cold War nationalism and the instruments of death, the inescapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/whatever-the-reason-we-first-mustered-the-apollo-program-however/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Our globe is under new dramatic environmental pressure: our globe is warming, our ice caps melting, our glaciers receding, our coral is dying, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lamm/our-globe-is-under-new-dramatic-environmental-pressure-our-globe-is/) [Richard Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lamm/) > [It was some UN agency that issued a report saying we're beyond the point of return here. And there was a picture of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/it-was-some-un-agency-that-issued-a-report-saying-we-re-beyond-the/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The ice caps are melting now. They're not going to refreeze next year just because we reduce our emissions. We're going to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-ice-caps-are-melting-now-they-re-not-going-to-refreeze-next-year/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cows eat grass and silage. This is melting the ice caps and killing us all. So they need a new foodstuff: something that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/cows-eat-grass-and-silage-this-is-melting-the-ice-caps-and-killing-us/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [Bad news, it's going to be a huge environmental disaster, the oil rig down there in the Gulf of Mexico. The good news is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/bad-news-it-s-going-to-be-a-huge-environmental-disaster-the-oil-rig/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Rising sea levels, severe draughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-panetta/rising-sea-levels-severe-draughts-the-melting-of-the-polar-caps-the/) [Leon Panetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-panetta/) > [Every day, TV, newspapers, and the Internet bombard us with a message that we're destroying the earth. Ice caps are melting, rivers are dying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/every-day-tv-newspapers-and-the-internet-bombard-us-with-a-message/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Caps quotes > [It is irresponsible to set an arbitrary cap on how much therapy a Medicare beneficiary can receive. It ignores the health needs of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ensign/it-is-irresponsible-to-set-an-arbitrary-cap-on-how-much-therapy-a/) [John Ensign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ensign/) > [When I represent my country I don't think about the number of caps, but about trying to qualify for finals. That's what counts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-fletcher/when-i-represent-my-country-i-don-t-think-about-the-number-of-caps/) [Darren Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-fletcher/) > [What Wall Street and credit card companies are doing is really not much different from what gangsters and loan sharks do who make predatory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/what-wall-street-and-credit-card-companies-are-doing-is-really-not/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Coal is My Worst Nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-chu/coal-is-my-worst-nightmare/) [Steven Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-chu/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the things I've become immune to is people talking about market cap and social media platforms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-kutcher/one-of-the-things-i-ve-become-immune-to-is-people-talking-about/) [Ashton Kutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-kutcher/) > [If you think of the ice caps as the fridge of our planet, if your fridge at home died, the food you eat would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orlando-bloom/if-you-think-of-the-ice-caps-as-the-fridge-of-our-planet-if-your/) [Orlando Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orlando-bloom/) > [I'm livin' in times where my daughters are found around Kids who can't afford thinking caps... But always found drinkin' raps and eatin' off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelvin-mercer/i-m-livin-in-times-where-my-daughters-are-found-around-kids-who-can-t/) [Kelvin Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelvin-mercer/) > [Communists all seem to wear small caps, a look I consider better suited to tubes of toothpaste than to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/communists-all-seem-to-wear-small-caps-a-look-i-consider-better/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [People hit the sauce in a big way all winter. Amidst blizzards they wrestle unsuccessfully with the dark comedy of their lives, laughter trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-gerstler/people-hit-the-sauce-in-a-big-way-all-winter-amidst-blizzards-they/) [Amy Gerstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-gerstler/) > [Freshly brainwashed from rehab, I carry the bottle into the bathroom. I hold it up to the light. See the pretty bottle? Isn't it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/freshly-brainwashed-from-rehab-i-carry-the-bottle-into-the-bathroom-i/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [It's like I'm married to the silencer, Until I file for divorce and release my ex-calibers. Do art with your arteries, place that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pharoahe-monch/it-s-like-i-m-married-to-the-silencer-until-i-file-for-divorce-and/) [Pharoahe Monch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pharoahe-monch/) > [I have not the particular shining bauble or feather in my cap for crowds to gaze at or kneel to, but I have power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-cromwell/i-have-not-the-particular-shining-bauble-or-feather-in-my-cap-for/) [Oliver Cromwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-cromwell/) > [That did it. I'd gone through a lot in the past few days. Everyone I met seemed to want a piece of me: djinn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-stroud/that-did-it-i-d-gone-through-a-lot-in-the-past-few-days-everyone-i/) [Jonathan Stroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-stroud/) Browse all 418 Caps quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All the things that we've done as a species have had a limited scope. We're talking about melting the ice caps, raising the level of the seas dramatically, changing the distribution of every other species on Earth, perhaps wiping out one-third or half of them. The changes at work are geologic in scale. The level of change required to deal with it is enormous, too. It will require change in every country. 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