Climate change and ecology - Peter Doherty

In the latest edition of The Griffith Review, Peter Doherty, the winner of the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1996, reflects on the need for ecological stability in order that life-forms continue to thrive.  Doherty's lifelong work has been in understanding the effect of influenza A viruses which cause epidemics and pandemics.  In his essay, Living With Complexity, he talks about the biological consequences of climate change, "... from the effect of ocean warming and acidification on corals and zoo-plankton, to altered bird, fish and insect migration and localisation patterns, to the direct effects of extreme heat on homeothermic animals like us."

"Just as we manage human healthcare in any civilised society, our clear and present responsibility is to manage this planet, our only home, and all its magnificent life forms. Here, of course, we grapple with further levels of extraordinary complexity, especially human behaviour and short-term needs. The challenge is enormous."