--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thus human beings are now carrying out a…" description: "\"“Thus human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/bill-mckibben-1057_carbon_thus-human-beings-are-now-carrying-out-a_2461702.jpg" --- # Thus human beings are now carrying out a large scale… ![“Thus human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future. Within a few centuries we are returning to the atmosphere and oceans the concentrated organic carbon stored in sedimentary rocks over…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/bill-mckibben-1057_carbon_thus-human-beings-are-now-carrying-out-a_2461702.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/bill-mckibben-1057_carbon_thus-human-beings-are-now-carrying-out-a_2461702.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/bill-mckibben-1057_carbon_thus-human-beings-are-now-carrying-out-a_2461702.jpg) > ““Thus human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future. Within a few centuries we are returning to the atmosphere and oceans the concentrated organic carbon stored in sedimentary rocks over hundreds of millions of years.”” [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 is rapidly releasing ancient carbon, altering Earth’s climate in unprecedented ways. **In simple terms:** We are releasing ancient carbon, changing climate. Key Takeaway Act to reduce carbon emissions. Themes environment climate science anthropocene Mood urgent concerned Type warning scientific When to use this quote - policy making - energy planning - public education - industrial regulation Key Concepts geophysics carbon cycle feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - How can societies adapt to irreversible climate shifts? - What responsibilities do we have to future generations? A Different Perspective The scale of change may outpace political response. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) [Carbon Stored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-stored-663360/) [Geophysical Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geophysical-experiment-663359/) [Organic Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organic-carbon-663361/) [Scale Geophysical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scale-geophysical-663362/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Thus, human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of the kind that could not have happened in the past...Within a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-revelle/thus-human-beings-are-now-carrying-out-a-large-scale-geophysical-2/) [Roger Revelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-revelle/) > [“Since about 1850, twice as much atmospheric carbon dioxide has derived from farming practices as from the burning of fossil fuels (the roles crossed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/since-about-1850-twice-as-much-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide-has-derived/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [Speaking for me, I think the odds of bankrupting Exxon are pretty small, but I think the odds of politically bankrupting them are higher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/speaking-for-me-i-think-the-odds-of-bankrupting-exxon-are-pretty/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [ Scientists are telling us that 350 parts per million \[of carbon\] in the atmosphere is the upper limit. We're at 387 parts per million… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/scientists-are-telling-us-that-350-parts-per-million-of-carbon-in-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Absent the net, we certainly couldn't have organized in 190 countries around the world. It's no substitution for face to face interaction - that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/absent-the-net-we-certainly-couldn-t-have-organized-in-190-countries/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We finally know where the red line for climate really is. After the rapid melt of arctic ice in the summer of 2007, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-finally-know-where-the-red-line-for-climate-really-is-after-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The flaw is the business plan - digging up and burning way more carbon than physics says we can deal with. So, I suppose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-flaw-is-the-business-plan-digging-up-and-burning-way-more-carbon/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The irony is that one of the things people want to solve climate change is more market - more price on carbon so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-irony-is-that-one-of-the-things-people-want-to-solve-climate/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The models that have been constructed agree that when, as has been predicted, the level of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-models-that-have-been-constructed-agree-that-when-as-has-been/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [From some tiny portion of the wealth the west accumulated in a hundred years of filling the atmosphere with carbon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/from-some-tiny-portion-of-the-wealth-the-west-accumulated-in-a/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [There's no huge mystery. If you dig up huge amounts of carbon, huge amounts of ancient biology, hundreds of millions of year's worth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-s-no-huge-mystery-if-you-dig-up-huge-amounts-of-carbon-huge/) [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/) > [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/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/windmills-and-solar-cells-are-carbon-free-sources-of-electricity-but/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) ## 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 Carbon quotes > [Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/windmills-and-solar-cells-are-carbon-free-sources-of-electricity-but/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The brightest and most valuable diamond started life as just a lump of carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dilger/the-brightest-and-most-valuable-diamond-started-life-as-just-a-lump/) [Peter Dilger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dilger/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [I love being a carbon molecule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-trussell/i-love-being-a-carbon-molecule/) [Duncan Trussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-trussell/) > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) [Marc Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-morano/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/if-every-country-committed-to-spending-0-05-per-cent-of-gdp-on/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [We're full of electricity, and the walls and floor of a building contain carbon - the same makeup as a video tape - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-james/we-re-full-of-electricity-and-the-walls-and-floor-of-a-building/) [Peter James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-james/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [“Steven Apfelbaum, a restoration ecologist in Wisconsin, says that every 1 percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional sixty thousand gallons of water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/steven-apfelbaum-a-restoration-ecologist-in-wisconsin-says-that-every/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I also think that if you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax? Why not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/i-also-think-that-if-you-want-to-put-a-price-on-carbon-why-not-just/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [If you want to make a substantial reduction in your carbon footprint, doing it on your own is virtually impossible, especially if you're driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-arnold/if-you-want-to-make-a-substantial-reduction-in-your-carbon-footprint/) [Tom Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-arnold/) > [Jesus was not born on December 25th. There's carbon evidence of it. That freaks people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-skiba/jesus-was-not-born-on-december-25th-there-s-carbon-evidence-of-it/) [Matt Skiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-skiba/) [Browse all 812 Carbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Thus human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future. 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