Science Quote by Steven Chu

Chu’s power move here is the calm, technical voice delivering a moral indictment. He starts with plain, almost bureaucratic facts - rising seas, stronger hurricanes - then punctures that neutrality with “very, very scary,” a phrase that sounds almost childlike. That contrast works: it signals that the threat has passed the point where scientific detachment is a virtue. When a physicist-turned-energy secretary says the quiet part out loud, you’re meant to hear urgency, not hysteria.

The key statistic - island states producing “one-half of 1 percent” of global emissions - is doing more than quantifying injustice. It weaponizes precision. The “I remember this number” aside is a subtle credibility cue: not a polished talking point, but a figure that stuck because it’s ethically outrageous. In a climate debate that often gets lost in abstract gigatons and distant timelines, Chu compresses cause and consequence into a single, lopsided ledger: those least responsible are first in line to pay.

Then comes the bluntest sentence: “some of them will disappear.” He doesn’t say “may” or “could.” He doesn’t soften it with “under current projections.” The intent is rhetorical triage - to force listeners to treat climate change not as an environmental issue, but as territorial loss, cultural erasure, and geopolitical upheaval. It’s also a rebuke to major emitters: if this is the arithmetic of responsibility, delay isn’t just shortsighted; it’s indefensible.