David Titley Quotes

David William Titley is a professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University and the founding director of their Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. He was also NOAA's chief operating officer from 2012–2013. Before assuming these positions, he was a rear admiral in, and the chief oceanographer of, the U.S. Navy, in which he served for 32 years. He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.

Also known as Meteorologist

I like to think of climate action as a three-legged stool.

David Titley
- Think
- Climate
- Stool
I see climate change as one of the driving forces in the 21st century. With modern technology and globalization, we are much more connected than ever before. The world's warehouses are now container ships.

David Titley

We need to start prioritizing people, not polar bears. We're probably less adaptable than them, anyway. The farther you are from the Beltway, the more you can have a conversation about climate no matter how people vote. I never try to politicize the issue.

David Titley
Climate change isn't just an environmental issue; it's a technology, water, food, energy, population issue. None of this happens in a vacuum.

David Titley
- Change
- Technology
- Water
People working on climate change should prepare for catastrophic success.

David Titley
- People
- Should
- Working
When we talk about climate, we need to do everything we can to set the stage before the actors come on. And they may only have one chance at success. We should keep thinking: How do we maximize that chance of success?

David Titley
- Thinking
- Success
- Chance
We need to start prioritizing people, not polar bears.

David Titley
- People
- Bears
Unfortunately, there's a lot of people in high places who understand the science but don't like where the policy leads them: too much government control.

David Titley

Politicians have responsibility to act if the public opinion changes. Flooding, storms, droughts are all getting people talking about climate change. I wonder if someday Atlanta will run out of water?

David Titley
Most people out there are just trying to keep their job and provide for their family. If climate change is now a once-in-a-mortgage problem, and if food prices start to spike, people will pay attention.

David Titley
- People
- Attention
- Problem