--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're putting more carbon into the…" description: "\"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 we starte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg" --- # We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the… ![“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 we started - we still don't know very much - but everybody told us 'this is crazy, you don't use a scientific data point, it's a number, people don't…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg) > “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 we started - we still don't know very much - but everybody told us 'this is crazy, you don't use a scientific data point, it's a number, people don't respond to numbers'.” [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 carbon emissions exceed atmospheric capacity; scientists warn that data points are ignored, highlighting denial and urgency in climate action. **In simple terms:** We emit more carbon than the atmosphere can handle, and data is ignored. Key Takeaway Act on climate data despite denial. Themes climate change science communication denial urgency Mood urgent concerned Type activist informative When to use this quote - government policy - education campaigns - individual lifestyle changes Key Concepts environmental policy data literacy public perception Questions to Reflect On - How can we make data compelling? - What strategies overcome climate denial? A Different Perspective Scientific data alone may not change behavior without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot hope to either understand or to manage the carbon in the atmosphere unless we understand and manage the trees and the soil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/we-cannot-hope-to-either-understand-or-to-manage-the-carbon-in-the/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [All this argument is the temperature going up or not, it's absurd. Of course it's going up. It has gone up since the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-bryson/all-this-argument-is-the-temperature-going-up-or-not-it-s-absurd-of/) [Reid Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-bryson/) > [We're not a manufacturer, or an airline, but we do use energy. Printing and publishing newspapers, producing films, broadcasting television signals, operating 24-hour newsrooms.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/we-re-not-a-manufacturer-or-an-airline-but-we-do-use-energy-printing/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [We simply don't know yet what's going to happen to the carbon in the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/we-simply-don-t-know-yet-what-s-going-to-happen-to-the-carbon-in-the/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Anything greater than 350 of parts of carbon dioxide per million is more than the planet can safely deal with. It is what's overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/anything-greater-than-350-of-parts-of-carbon-dioxide-per-million-is/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“According to Christine Jones, soils hold more carbon than the atmosphere and all the world’s plant life combined—and can hold it longer, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/according-to-christine-jones-soils-hold-more-carbon-than-the/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [We have to be bringing carbon out of the atmosphere, and we can't wait for these magical technologies that are somehow going to suck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/we-have-to-be-bringing-carbon-out-of-the-atmosphere-and-we-can-t-wait/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [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/) > [Even if we stop the growth, we'd still be adding a constant amount of fossil carbon to the atmosphere each year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-calvin/even-if-we-stop-the-growth-we-d-still-be-adding-a-constant-amount-of/) [William H. Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-calvin/) > [There are many theories about the best way to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere - some are ludicrous, others are at least worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/there-are-many-theories-about-the-best-way-to-remove-excess-carbon/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [Climate change is real. Climate change is being substantially increased by humans and the carbon we put into the atmosphere. And it appears to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/climate-change-is-real-climate-change-is-being-substantially/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [The essential fact which emerges ... is that the three smallest and most active reservoirs ( of carbon in the global carbon cycle), the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-essential-fact-which-emerges-is-that-the-three-smallest-and-most/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [We're not a manufacturer, or an airline, but we do use energy. Printing and publishing newspapers, producing films and television programs, operating 24-hour newsrooms.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/we-re-not-a-manufacturer-or-an-airline-but-we-do-use-energy-printing-2/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [We have carbon in the atmosphere. That is a material in the wrong place problem. It's just like what I said about the lead.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/we-have-carbon-in-the-atmosphere-that-is-a-material-in-the-wrong/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [ \[Kids\] will grow up into a world that's difficult and wonderful, and they'll make the best of it they can, and hopefully help turn… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/kids-will-grow-up-into-a-world-that-s-difficult-and-wonderful-and/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Atmosphere quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Man will not always stay on Earth; the pursuit of light and space will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/man-will-not-always-stay-on-earth-the-pursuit-of-light-and-space-will/) [Konstantin Tsiolkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/) > [Pause before you get home and prepare your heart. A peaceful heart leads to a peaceful atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-burns/pause-before-you-get-home-and-prepare-your-heart-a-peaceful-heart/) [Jim Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-burns/) > [Sometimes a minute is really the difference between success and failure. There are times when you finish with ten seconds left, and one extra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-symon/sometimes-a-minute-is-really-the-difference-between-success-and/) [Michael Symon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-symon/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [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/) > [“Atmosphere" is a massive song. A lot of people say it's their favorite Joy Division song, but it's not mine; it reminds me too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/atmosphere-is-a-massive-song-a-lot-of-people-say-it-s-their-favorite/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [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/) > [It was clear to me that the White House's solemn atmosphere would not civilize Trump. But the merciless nepotism with which he conducts politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/it-was-clear-to-me-that-the-white-house-s-solemn-atmosphere-would-not/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [“Bjerknes had come up with equations capable of describing the behavior of the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere at any point could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/bjerknes-had-come-up-with-equations-capable-of-describing-the/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) Browse all 1,572 Atmosphere quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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 we started - we still don't know very much - but everybody told us 'this is crazy, you don't use a scientific data point, it's a number, people don't respond to numbers'.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atmosphere" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc2/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmos_146967.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we…” — Bill McKibben", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We're putting more carbon into the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```