Science

10 gut-wrenching pleas from astronauts to save the Earth

Kelly Dickerson

2015-12-12T17:21:00Z

From 250 miles up, astronauts have an unparalleled view of Earth. They can also easily see the devastating effects of climate change and pollution as they ravage the planet.

That's why past and present astronauts from around the world have contributed to a new video, called "Call to Earth," that urges world leaders to take action.

It's an inspiring collection of pleas, but also a sobering and gut-wrenching one: If we don't clean up our act as a species, and fast, we could irreversibly mar the only home that we've got in the solar system.

Here are the some of the most salient quotes from the video.

Astronauts have a bird's eye view of Earth from the International Space Station.

And the effects of human activity are quickly catching up with us, say a group of astronauts in a video directed at politicians.

Source: YouTube

It's amazing just how fragile the atmosphere looks from space, said one astronaut. All we have is a thin film of air to protect us.

earth at night from space scott kelly nasa

"When you look at your planet from space, it's beautiful, fragile, and there's this little thin layer all the way around: our atmosphere. And that's the only thing that protects us from the really bad vacuum in outer space. This little fragile layer, the atmosphere, is part of our life support system. We need to be really careful with it." —Mary Cleave, American astronaut

Space also affords a view of human destruction since the dawn of the industrial age.

smog over china — Smog over Beijing. NASA/NOAA

"Less than 550 humans have orbited the Earth. Those of us lucky enough to have done so more than once have not only heard about the negative impact that the industrial age has had on our planet, we've seen it with our own eyes." —Michael López-Alegría, American astronaut

Ongoing human catastrophes are easily visible, too, like deforestation.

amazon burning — An astronaut captured this image of an Amazon rainforest burning. NASA

"The view from space is just breathtaking. And at the same time we recognize deforestation and wild fires, and so on, which are related to climate change." —Naoko Yamazaki, Japanese astronaut

It's also easy to see lakes dry up and pollution spread.

aral sea shrinking — The Aral Sea has shrunk significantly. The left image shows the lake in 1977, the middle in 1998 and the right in 2010. NASA/USGS

"We astronauts have been witnessing the continued shrinking of the Aral Sea, the burning rainforests along the Amazon and in Indonesia, the polluted air over industrial zones, and the dirty water at the river deltas." —Ernst Messerschmid, German astronaut

If we don't act now on climate change, things could spiral out of our control.

China air pollution — Young students and their parents wearing masks walk along a street on a hazy day in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China, November 3, 2015. Some kindergartens and schools were closed as severe air pollution hit northeastern Chinese city of Harbin on Tuesday, local media reported. China Stringer Network/Reuters

"This is the biggest problem the world has to face right now. And we're at a point now where we really have to take action and make the changes to try to ward off the worst effects which might come down the pipe." —Greg Linteris, American astronaut

People in power must work together if we want to temper climate change and its disruptive force, the astronauts say.

barack obama — U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference and expo in Chicago October 27, 2015 REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

"To make the changes we need to make and to reach a safer future, we will need the resources of everybody here — the scientists, the policy makers, and the industrialists — all working together towards a common goal. And that goal is a planet that can continue to support life." —Piers Sellers, American astronaut

It's also crucial that we educate future generations to be far better stewards than we have been.

Finland science education — Students attend a class in nuclear engineering at Aalto University School of Science and Technology in Helsinki, September 27, 2010. REUTERS/Bob Strong

"Our course would be better served if in addition to what [the Paris climate change] conference seeks to achieve, this world body focuses also equally on educating the next generation so that it grows up with the understanding that sustainable development is impossible if it is accompanied by non-sustainable consumption." —Rakesh Sharma, Indian cosmonaut

We're the only caretakers of Earth, the astronauts say, and it's our job to watch over of the planet.

"We are citizens of space, and stewards of Earth. We need to take actions to build [a] global climate alliance in order to protect our environment." —Soichi Noguchi, Japanese astronaut

One astronaut compared the Earth to having cancer, just like him, in a heartbreaking message.

"Suppose I can transfer the experience which I have to you. Then you would go out and see the Earth. And when you have let's say the spirit and the insight and the attitude of an astronaut, you start to love the Earth. And if you really love something, you don't want to lose it. Our Earth has cancer. I have cancer, too." —Wubbo Ockels, Dutch astronaut

He died the day after recording his message.

space moon earth — The moon appears near the earth's horizon in a photo of an orbital moonset taken from aboard the International Space Station on May 17, 2011. Reuters/NASA

You can watch the astronauts' entire video below.

Space Climate Change