I’m an environmentalist. I grew up hiking with my dad and learning about the trees I walked past and the birds I heard nearby. Because of this, I’ve grown up with a love for the wild and a respect for nature’s workings. I also grew up watching shows and reading books about wild storms, storm chasers, and adventures in the wild. These things filled me with the desire to travel and a taste for adventure. These two interests, it seems, may come to a head at some point during my lifetime, if the failure of the Paris Climate Accords is anything to go by.
The ideals of the Paris Climate Accords are monumental; they are based on hard and accurate science, and they set reachable, if difficult, goals and deadlines for nations across the world. It seems like a perfect solution, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s made up of politicians. I have a sort of stubborn optimism for our world’s future – in terms of climate change – but I also have a deeply set pessimism when it comes to politics, ingrained by 4 years watching Donald Trump speak before a podium. This all evens out to a resigned cynicism, and while I will dedicate my life – an education and career in renewable energies, activism in environmental policies – to alleviating the symptoms of global warming, I have also accepted the possibility of failure. All it really takes to remind myself of the world’s hopelessness of meeting our under 2 degree C cap in time is the following graphic.
Regardless of whether we meet this goal, the world is already experiencing deadly and devastating consequences of global warming. Last year’s hurricane season, for example, was record breaking in the sheer number of tropical storms, not to mention the severity of some of them. Pacific island nations are now quickly losing land to rising sea levels. Critical farmland in central Africa has been inundated by unpredictable rain levels and storms. Unpredictable weather, extreme conditions, and shifts in seasonal climates are all major markers for drastic climate change. Failing to meet our set goal will result in exponentially growing instances of these kinds of events; even if we manage to live up to the Paris Accords, we will be combating this and other effects of climate change for generations to come. I don’t know what will happen, and I don’t know how soon these kinds of events will increase in frequency.
But! In order to save myself from certain apathy and depression, I have embraced the eventuality of apocalyptic weather patterns and the ultimate failure of government systems to solve the climate crisis. Instead, I look forward to an adventure just as thrilling as Jake Gyllenhaal faces in The Day After Tomorrow, a fantastic movie that everyone reading needs to watch. In this movie, Gyllenhaal’s dad, a global climate pattern expert, works tirelessly to convince the government and many national and international organizations of the impending pseudo ice-age and the steps necessary to save people; meanwhile Gyllenhaal and his friends hole up in the NY Metropolitan Library in order to stay warm, and utilize cobbled-together survival knowledge to make it through the worst of the storms.
I intend to pick up this attitude – do my best to prevent, but then take pride and purpose in living through such disasters. Instead of despairing about the state of the world, I will be like a stormchaser, facing strange conditions with both an academic mindset (to learn more about the conditions and help others facing similar situations, of course) and a ready-to-be-thrilled attitude.
Hi Katie. Frankly, this is a pretty depressing blog post. I do think we don’t much time before we all get screwed over by the boomers running the world who don’t care about the future. I admire your optimism and vision on how we will survive in the future. I cope in a slightly different way in that I do try to be eco-friendly, but I try to ignore the fact that 90% of the world doesn’t give a damn crap about the planet. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d be having an existential crisis most of the time I am alive and I don’t need that additional stress in my life. Having 3 weeks of school is enough stress as it is. Funny and interesting read as always.
Your post but the reality of the situation very starkly. There has been many failures with fixing the climate, mostly because those in charge seem to not change anything they promise to. I have seen the movie with Jake Gyllenhaal, and it was really excellent and informative. I think your mindset is important to have, instead of just accepting that it cannot be changed.
Hi Katie, I’ll definitely look into watching The Day After Tomorrow movie! Topics like these are always slightly worrying and serious, but I think it’s absolutely essential to talk about. While the political side of climate change is often discouraging, I find positivity in people like you who are always looking to make changes and improve the world.