What Comes After the Flood?

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He writes about space, which is where he lives. He has mess on his desk (and likes to rhyme all the time). He uses public transport.

Marcin Popkiewicz, co-founder of the climate science portal Nauka o klimacie and co-author of the book of the same title, talks about ecotourism, Szymon Malinowski, the fight against disinformation, and a possible future world.

Łukasz Kaniewski: You’re a nuclear physicist turned activist. How did this happen?

Marcin Popkiewicz: I don’t consider myself an activist; this isn’t the right word. I’d describe myself as an analyst of megatrends, interested in popularizing science. It is true, however, that a great deal of what I do is about climate protection. How did it happen? Well, the movie The Great Global Warming Swindle played a significant part here. I got so annoyed with this horrendous manipulation that I thought: “You shamelessly brainwash people? Just you wait.” Then one thing led to another. The issues related to resources, energy, economy, environment and climate – and especially their entanglements – are so important and fascinating (and often terrifying) that once I started exploring them, I became more and more involved.

ilustracja: Daniel De Latour — Illustration by Daniel De Latour

As both a nuclear physicist and climate change expert, could you share with us your opinion on nuclear power plants?

Our alternatives to fossil fuels are renewable energy sources (RES) and atomic energy. For many reasons, I consider the

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Łukasz Kaniewski:

He writes about space, which is where he lives. He has mess on his desk (and likes to rhyme all the time). He uses public transport.

Translation: Joanna Mąkowska

Publish date: 19.06.2020

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‘Don’t panic’ seems to be one of the most popular slogans of the 21st century, thrown at virtually anyone who shows any sign of anxiousness or uncertainty. Panic is associated with chaos, discord, danger. But apparently panic can be good, on one condition: it has to be productive. If it ignites change, “It’s okay to panic”. These are the words of Szymon Malinowski, the protagonist of Jonathan L. Ramsey’s Polish climate documentary of the same title.

The film, which made the official selection for the 2020 edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, portrays the struggles of 62-year-old Professor Szymon Malinowski. The professor has been studying atmospheric physics for decades. He never ceases to use his immense knowledge, along with his wit and charisma, to open people’s eyes to what seems to be a painful truism to experts of his kind: the looming danger of climate change. The threat of irreversible damage to the world we know is growing bigger every second we keep on steering away from the facts. Malinowski not only knows it. He can also project possible scenarios and time frames. “This truly is an exceptional period. We might actually be nearing the end of time.” However jovial the professor appears, these words of his project deep sadness.

What Comes After the Flood?

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It’s Okay to Panic!

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