Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. Sea levels are rising, global temperatures are increasing, and extreme weather events — including droughts, floods, wildfires, and heat waves — are becoming ever more common and intense, costing lives and livelihoods the world over. 

But there is good news. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in April, highlighted that we can still stop the world warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius — it's just going to take every single one of us taking action to protect our planet, and calling on leaders to take transformative action. 

In fact, as the IPCC report emphasized, the science, the technology, and the money needed to effectively combat climate change are all available right now — it's only status quo politics and special interest groups standing in the way. 

That means it's more important than ever for us all to keep pushing to protect our planet — by helping share with our friends, families, and communities how we can all take action to make our lives more sustainable; by calling on our governments and world leaders to stop fossil fuel projects, cut carbon emissions, and deliver climate financing to support the world's poorest; by urging businesses to commit to net zero, and more. 

It's not an easy mission, however, and we could all do with a little inspiration along the way. That's why we've collected these inspiring, thought-provoking, and urgent quotes from Bill Nye, to help keep us all going. 

Nye, popularly known as "Bill Nye, The Science Guy", is a scientist and television presenter. In the 1990s he used his show, Bill Nye the Science Guy, to make science fun and entertaining for millions of children all over the world. He now uses his platform to talk about climate change, the effect it will have on the planet, and action we can all take to mitigate its impacts. 

Nye will also be joining Global Citizen's inaugural thought leadership summit, Global Citizen NOW, from May 22-23 in New York City. The summit will bring together over 200 leaders from across advocacy, entertainment, government, the private sector, and philanthropy, to drive actions toward defeating extreme poverty and defending the planet now. 

Nye will be moderating the session, "Rising Tide: In Conversation with Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados", with content from Global Citizen NOW premiering on Global Citizen's YouTube channel on Wednesday, May 25. You can find out more about Global Citizen NOW here.

Read on to hear more from The Science Guy about climate change, Earth, science, and just doing what we can to protect our home. 

• "Science is the key to our future, and if you don’t believe in science, then you’re holding everybody back." From an interview with Popular Mechanics

• "We have hardly done anything to address climate change or improve the lives of people in the developing world; we have to get to work." From an interview with the Guardian

• "The problems don't care who solves them." From Nye's 2017 book, Everything All at Once: How to unleash your inner nerd, tap into radical curiosity, and solve any problem

• "Leave the world better than you found it, and everybody's responsible for his or her own actions, and sometimes...you [have to] pick up other people’s trash." From an interview with the University of Toronto's student newspaper, The Varsity

• "The natural world is a package deal; you don’t get to select which facts you like and which you don’t."  From Nye's 2014 book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

• "You can’t choose to believe in gravity; if you walk off a cliff, you will be affected adversely. Climate change is not a 50-50 thing which you can choose to believe in or not. If you choose to ignore human’s influence on the world’s climate, we will be affected adversely." From a 2017 interview with the Guardian

• What happens to other species also happens to us." From Nye's book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

• "Science is the best idea humans have ever had. The more people who embrace that idea, the better." From a 2013 interview with Mashable.

• "Every question leads to new answers, new discoveries, and new smarter questions." From Nye's book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

• "With that in mind, here’s my Nerd Code of Conduct: 1. Be open and be honest. 2. Don’t pretend you know what you don’t know (often a little too easy to do). 3. Show the world as it is, rather than the way you wish it would be. 4. Respect facts; don’t deny them just because you don’t like them. 5. Move forward only after you trust your design." From Nye's 2017 book, Everything All at Once: How to unleash your inner nerd, tap into radical curiosity, and solve any problem

• "Science is the way in which we know nature and our place within it." From Nye's book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

• "If your house is on fire, you don't comfort yourself with the thought that houses have been catching fire for thousands of years. You don't sit idly back and think, 'Oh well, that is the way of nature.' You get going, immediately. And you don't spring into action because of an idealistic notion that houses deserve to be saved. You do it because if you don't, you won't have a place to live." From Nye's 2015 book Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World

• "The process of science and natural laws don’t care about our politics or preconceptions. They merely set the boundaries of what is possible, defining the outer limits of what we can achieve — or not, should we shy away from the challenge." From Nye's 2017 book, Everything All at Once: How to unleash your inner nerd, tap into radical curiosity, and solve any problem

• "One of the duties of all of us — parents, scientists, everyone — is to help educate the next generation, so they can succeed in their lives and help make the world a better place." From Nye's book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

• "Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us." From the 2017 biographical documentary, Bill Nye: Science Guy

• "Climate change is bigger than I am; it’s bigger that you are. I’m sorry, people, you can shoot the messenger but the climate is still changing." From a 2017 interview with the Guardian