--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We've been given a warning by science…" description: "\"We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call by nature; it is up to us now to heed them.\" — Bill McKibben" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg" --- # We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call… ![“We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call by nature; it is up to us now to heed them.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg) > “We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call by nature; it is up to us now to heed them.” [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. Scientific warnings demand immediate action to prevent ecological disaster. **In simple terms:** Science warns; we must act now. Key Takeaway Heed scientific warnings urgently. Themes environment climate action responsibility Mood urgent determined Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - government policy - community initiatives - personal lifestyle Key Concepts sustainability ecology policy change Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take today? - How can you influence others? A Different Perspective Economic interests often delay necessary environmental measures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climate change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-change/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Given Warning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-warning-4953329/) [Heed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heed/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Heed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-heed-5994450/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Wake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-wake-5994453/) [Wake Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-nature-5994451/) [Wake up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-up/) [Wake up call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-up-call/) [Warning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warning/) [Warning Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warning-science-5994448/) ## Related quotes > [“There are rules,” he interrupted, scowling. 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In doing so, he's giving the country and maybe the world, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/most-of-all-i-believe-god-has-chosen-to-bless-this-series-in-doing-so/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [The Stamp Act was a direct tax imposed on the colonies by King George III. This act inevitably led to the American Revolution. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/the-stamp-act-was-a-direct-tax-imposed-on-the-colonies-by-king-george/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [“Writing our eulogy can be a wake-up call to prioritize what truly matters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-izad/writing-our-eulogy-can-be-a-wake-up-call-to-prioritize-what-truly/) [Sam Izad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-izad/) > [“I think the American People are well aware at this point that both people parties are working with large financial and corporate interests to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-ratigan/i-think-the-american-people-are-well-aware-at-this-point-that-both/) [Dylan Ratigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-ratigan/) > [It's always a wake-up call to get beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usain-bolt/it-s-always-a-wake-up-call-to-get-beaten/) [Usain Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usain-bolt/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) ## 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 Climate change quotes > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [There are many more traits that the climate deniers share with the creationists and Holocaust deniers and others who distort the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-r-prothero/there-are-many-more-traits-that-the-climate-deniers-share-with-the/) [Donald R. Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-r-prothero/) > [I talk to fashion designers and say I want some money to save the rainforest, and they say, 'Oh, I agree with you completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/i-talk-to-fashion-designers-and-say-i-want-some-money-to-save-the/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can't afford the risk of inaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/climate-change-poses-clear-catastrophic-threats-we-may-not-agree-on/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [I do not underestimate the difficulty of the challenge that global climate change presents to us. It will take a significant effort and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-pena/i-do-not-underestimate-the-difficulty-of-the-challenge-that-global/) [Federico Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-pena/) > [First, climate change is the greatest long-term threat faced by humanity. It could cause more human and financial suffering than the two world wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/first-climate-change-is-the-greatest-long-term-threat-faced-by/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [As a politician - particularly as a politician in a coalition - you quickly realise that compromise is a part of the game. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-davey/as-a-politician-particularly-as-a-politician-in-a-coalition-you/) [Edward Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-davey/) > [George H.W. Bush said we will lead on climate change, and we'll lead from the top. That was 30 years ago. And now Republicans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-bullock/george-h-w-bush-said-we-will-lead-on-climate-change-and-we-ll-lead/) [Steve Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-bullock/) > [Climate change is not an excuse to give the federal government ever more power over private property and state resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luther-strange/climate-change-is-not-an-excuse-to-give-the-federal-government-ever/) [Luther Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luther-strange/) > [Most Americans believe in fairness; we believe that people should work hard but there should be a safety net. We believe in saving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-maclean/most-americans-believe-in-fairness-we-believe-that-people-should-work/) [Nancy MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-maclean/) > [21st-century foreign policy is going to be built on countries that can tackle transnational challenges together. Climate change and public health are the top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-auchincloss/21st-century-foreign-policy-is-going-to-be-built-on-countries-that/) [Jake Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-auchincloss/) > [You'd be forgiven for thinking that climate change means we'll have to sacrifice our creature comforts. But it doesn't have to be that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/you-d-be-forgiven-for-thinking-that-climate-change-means-we-ll-have/) [Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/) > [Wind and solar power, energy efficient buildings, cars that go farther on a tank of gas, and other solutions can fight climate change. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-beinecke/wind-and-solar-power-energy-efficient-buildings-cars-that-go-farther/) [Frances Beinecke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-beinecke/) [Browse all 2,684 Climate change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call by nature; it is up to us now to heed them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-and-a-wake-up-call-by-nature-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Climate change" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-and-a-wake-up-call-by-nature-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/bill-mckibben-1057_climate-change_we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-an_2397580.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We've been given a warning by science, and a wake-up call by nature; it is up to us now to heed them.” — 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've been given a warning by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-and-a-wake-up-call-by-nature-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-ve-been-given-a-warning-by-science-and-a-wake-up-call-by-nature-it/#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 } } ] } ```