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Photo Gallery: San Diego Among 600 Cities Joining the March for Science Worldwide

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March for Science

Photo of San Diego Marchers by @AprilLO_1 via twitter

By Doug Porter

First, the numbers: Early crowd estimates for the San Diego March for Science ranged as high as 25,000 participants. My gut says there were 15,000 or so. Initial estimates put the Washington D.C. march at roughly 40,000 and the New York march at around 20,000; Chicago crowds were also estimated at 40,000; Los Angeles, 50,000.

There were marches in roughly 600 cities worldwide. I’ve seen coverage from South Africa, Uganda, London, Switzerland, Rome, France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, and the North Pole.

Speaking as a participant in San Diego’s march, this event had much in common with the Women’s March earlier this year, namely lots of people who rarely feel motivated to take to the streets. The signs were snappy and smart, the chanting not-so-much, though I loved the “What do we want? Science! – When do we want it? After peer review!” chant.

What motivated marchers was obvious: real misgivings about living in a world defined by the pronouncements of political leaders rather than the observations of an educated populace. There is angst about reality being designated as fake; about policy being made on the basis of profit over the health and welfare of the citizenry.

The Union-Tribune coverage quoted scientist Ralph Keeling, director of the Keeling curve program, which measures ongoing atmospheric factors such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. Last week measurements taken at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory showed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide over 410 parts per million, a level not seen on the planet since the mid-Pliocene era, roughly three million years ago.

Ralph Keeling, a climatologist with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told a crowd of several thousand people in downtown San Diego Saturday morning that the question of whether humans are causing climate change is a “fake debate.”

“In 40 years of skepticism, there has not been a theory put forth that has traction, that has a school of thought associated with it,” said Keeling, who is carrying on his father’s groundbreaking research tying the rise of carbon-dioxide levels to global warming. “You have skeptics that individually have reasons for doubting, but they have not engaged in producing an alternate hypothesis. What that tells you is that the debate has been over for decades.

“Something like 97 percent of the papers on climate endorsed the view that this is a serious problem, and even that undersells it, at least in my opinion,” he added.

Like the Women’s March, the concept of the March for Science got its start on social media, as an article in Quartz explains:

The day US president Donald Trump was sworn into office, an article from Motherboard about the scrubbing of all references to climate change on the White House website made its way onto Reddit. The story, posted to the subreddit for US politics, swiftly garnered more than 76,000 points as the upvotes rolled in.

“I’m starting to think I should get together with some colleagues and see if we can get some letter written and signed,” commented a Reddit user with the handle retardcharzard, who said he worked in a lab where a colleague was studying global warming’s effect on frogs, and near others studying the effects on butterflies. “This isn’t just about jobs to us, if we cared about money we wouldn’t be in this field in the first place. This is about the future of every organism on earth, many that haven’t even been born yet. We have to fight.”

The first reply to that comment came from a user called beaverteeth92: “There needs to be a Scientists’ March on Washington.”

San Diego Photo Gallery One:

San Diego Photo Gallery Two:

National Photo Gallery

Almost all of these are from Twitter accounts…

National Gallery Two

Doug Porter

Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

Comments

  1. “What motivated marchers was obvious: real misgivings about living in a world defined by the pronouncements of political leaders rather than the observations of an educated populace.” Thank you for that, Doug Porter, and for the photos, and… for walking the walk. All of you who continue to show up to save us from the tornado of greed deserve our gratitude. Keep building up the pressure on the politicians.

  2. Thanks for covering this Doug! It was amazing to see scientists get involved in this political statement! We are fighting every day to ensure NIH funding is not cut. Saddest sign I saw today was one I will fight to make sure this never happens: “WILL CURE MRSA FOR NIH FUNDING”.
    To continue this effort join us Or another issue advocacy organization you care about.
    ACSCAN.org

  3. I agree that it felt more like 15K and not 25K. I thought drum lines would have boosted the energy a bit, even in the warm day. I enjoyed the booths at the end of the march and the strong sense of sharing information.

    I also agree with Doug re: snappy signs. So far the Resistance is showing such wonderful creativity with the signs and banners. You can see that a major part of attending one of these marches is taking the time to read and enjoy the signs. Of course, it is also wonderful that all the photos being taken are then shared via social media. A sign in a march of 15 thousand is quickly viewed by another 50,000 or so around the world. My top three picks for signs: #1 – the young boy with the sign that read “Listen to Noam Chomsky.” Loved it. #2 – Silver haired marcher with”The attack on science is so . . . 12th Century.” Right on. #3 – the girl on her dad’s shoulders with a sign almost as big as her that read “No one marches for pollution!” Ah, thank you child.

    Walking back to where I parked, I thoroughly enjoyed the Little Italy Street Market and the lovely mix of Science March folks and Street Market devotees. “This is what a more civil and healthily participative society looks like,” you might want to chant! Got to my vehicle and had two chants in my head (they were created by me on the march but not shared as the timing just did not feel right.) Here you go:

    First Chant:
    Maxine Waters got it right
    Impeach Donald Trump Tonight

    Second Chant:
    Trumpty Dumpty Sat on his wall
    Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall
    All Putin’s forces and all Foxes’ men
    Couldn’t put Trumpty Dumpty
    Back together again

    Just a thought.

    On to the Climate March. My hopes for this important march:
    1) Adequate sound system (missing in the Science March and the Women’s March);
    2) Drum lines in the march – every 100 yards would be super!
    3) Better mix and variety of chants
    4) A turnout of 70,000 in San Diego. Why not? Who in this city has not praised the climate here and benefited from it in one way or another? Want it ruined? If not, come march.

  4. Idea: How about drum lines from 5 San Diego high school bands? I know it has to be totally voluntary: no public high school can say “hey, band, we are going to all go march in the Climate March,” as the politically conservative school boards in this county would go nuts and a few good teachers would lose their jobs no doubt. But what about a call for volunteers from the bands? Do any parochial schools have bands that could “represent”? I just think we need to perk up our marches a bit.

    • It’s a protest march, not a show. Save the bands for a march to protest school spending cuts for music and the arts.

  5. This very successful March for Science around the world must be only the beginning. We must keep the pressure on this administration, and this Congress, until they see the error of their ways! Letters and phone calls to our elected officials. Personal lobbying of our Senators and Representatives. Shopping at places that acknowledge that climate change is real. Seeing your Congressional Representatives when they come to the district. Write letters to the editor. Continue with large scale organized protests. Withhold money from their campaigns, and in a whole myriad of other ways continue to make our voices known.

  6. the only negative of this march was the long time it took for the entire march to funnel into Waterfront Park. at least half and hour of… nothing. sure, folks were milling around, meeting, and having a good time. but the organization should have moved the march quicker.

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