Peter Kalmas, a climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, began his career exploring gravitational waves in the universe.
“I started to feel very anxious that I wasn't using my talents to help stop global warming,” said Dr. Kalmas, who said he was only speaking for himself and not his employer. He emphasized that After several years of research in astrophysics, he pivoted to studying the physics of clouds and then to using climate models to investigate the risks of extreme heat. (Dr. Kalmas is also an outspoken climate change activist who has been arrested for his protest tactics.)
“I'm still angry that I was forced to quit astrophysics and become a climate scientist because policymakers didn't do enough to stop global warming.” he said.
increasing risk
Telescopes needed to be built in high, dry locations away from urban light pollution, and were often placed in fire-prone locations such as mountaintops and forests. It came as no surprise in 2013 when fire broke out at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory, Mt Stromlo's sister facility in the New South Wales national park.
By then, astronomers had learned some lessons. Employees maintained the Siding Spring grounds to keep plants clear of the telescope dome. The blaze destroyed some infrastructure, but the observatory largely escaped damage.
“Wildfires are part of everyday life in Australia,” says Celine d'Orgeville, director of the Center for Advanced Measurement Technologies, a state-of-the-art facility that opened on Mt Stromlo three years after the 2003 disaster. “However, it is clear that in recent years the frequency and severity of fires has increased significantly.”
In 2022, a wildfire broke out at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, destroying multiple buildings. And fire is not the only danger. The giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed in 2020, due in part to repeated stress from hurricanes, according to a 2022 forensic investigation commissioned by the National Science Foundation.
“People are acutely aware that they really need to consider climate change when choosing a new location,” Ms. Orgeville said.
