Climate Thoughts with Brian

Scientists On Survival– a collection of essays, articles and thoughts from Scientists for XR- is the rare beast. A climate book written by experts which isn’t about science, but which is a story about humans. A story of journeys and a story of love.

The writer and campaigner Matthew Todd describes the book this way: ‘This collection of essays is deeply moving, inspiring and profoundly important.’

The climate clock is running out, but before everything is lost in time, we have the opportunity to protect ourselves, other species and our futures. ‘Whereof what’s past is prologue; what to come, in yours and my discharge.’

But it would seem that vested interests of the fossil fuel companies continue to try to dismiss and discredit science and expert scientists- from the courts of Galileo, to President Trump firing NOAA employees. Nothing ever changes it seems. And yet, as we have seen, time and time again throughout history, everything can change. 

Chris Packham makes this blunt point in the foreword to Scientists on Survival. Packham is a person who has spent so many years devoted to protecting nature, conserving species and promoting a love of nature and he states: ‘And the truth is undeniable: life on Earth is in desperate peril. Our world is burning, melting, drowning and degrading in ways we can simply no longer ignore. Powerful vested interests- fossil fuels, industrial agriculture and chemical giants- have obscured the facts and silenced the voices of those truth tellers.

This is not a book about the science of climate breakdown or biodiversity loss. It is a collection of human stories told through a fierce love for our natural world.’

Find your Voice

Scientists on Survival is split into three clear and logical sections: scientists’ views and perspectives on where we currently are and the ‘lightbulb moment’ for each of them; what they have each done in response to the situation, in terms of lifestyle changes and mindset shifts; and then finally how they have tried to raise global awareness of the lack of government action on climate issues through non-violent protests.

Dr Ryan Walker asks the burning question, ‘How have we got to this? How could a problem that we have known about for more than 40 years be allowed to get progressively worse?’ A question to which we sadly know the answer. Fossil fuel companies and an insatiable capitalist system have manipulated us into thinking that individual status and wealth are more important than global cooperation and action. Divisions that Dr Abi Perrin also notes which have been artificially created to ensure that the capitalist system and structure remains intact. ‘How had so many years of scientists’ warnings failed to generate political urgency on climate action?

I sit with a fear that, at a time when we desperately need to be pulling together, we are instead seeing further polarization and division in our societies.’

Dr Tristram Wyatt urges us to talk about the climate as much as we can, because being part of a community- even a niche community-  is empowering and changes the narrative to a human based one. He argues, ‘It might not be for you, but speaking about the climate crisis can be cathartic. So many conversations are waiting to happen, and finding your own voice is an important part of the process.’

This is a point that Dr Laura Thomas- Walters also endorses- that climate communication can happen everyday and in many contexts. That people listen to other people, especially in close groups, more than they listen to strangers.

‘It rests on the idea that we trust our friends and family more than random advocates from charities or the government, so they are also the best messengers to promote good attitudes and behaviours.

Still the number one easy thing to do is talk! Change the way society perceives climate change. Don’t let the media and government dismiss it as a fringe issue.’

For critics looking for flaws in the book, this argument will undoubtedly arise- why should we listen, or read, the views of scientists, if we are supposed to listen to our close family? Ha! Checkmate! It avoids the secondary question of how your close family has interpreted the information from climate scientists for your home, for your specific community, for your country.  Someone always listens, because not everyone is on the sidelines criticising the play. We all have skin in the game.

‘I will not be a bystander’- Emma Smart

There is comfort in not looking at a problem. There is a comfort in allowing calling for climate action to be done by other people. There is a peace that can be found in saying ‘Other people have protested and it hasn’t changed anything, so it never will.’ Dr Stuart Capstick challenges this emotional response head on when he explores the motivation of climate activists. ‘I’ve often wondered what it is that moves someone from being vaguely concerned about the environment, to that visceral grasp of the true scale, horror and injustice of the emergency heading our way. And I feel more vulnerable, confused, heartbroken and afraid than ever. Why do we know but not act? Why do we participate so willingly in our own downfall? Is it the sad truth that we’ll only know what we’ve got once it’s gone?’ The willing blindness, the willing ignorance is the easy option and the wide, straight, easy path. No wonder it’s so popular.

How do we act though, when we knowingly hurt the ones we love?

We will all find chapters and essays which resonate with us personally in the book and this is exactly the point of the multiple voices. Humans make connections with other humans and shared experiences can be a powerful way to start climate conversations. Dr Viola Ross- Smith’s chapter touched and affected me strongly, when she described bringing up a child in this new world and how we, as parents, equip our children to be informed and adapt. With my own eight year old, who could reasonably see 2100, what will that world look like and how could we leave it a better place than it currently is on track for?

‘How do I bring my brilliant boy up so he understands what’s already happening, let alone prepare him for what’s coming? How do I equip him for the future without filling him with despair?

But can I afford not to act when his future is at stake? 

What kind of parent would I be if I didn’t try everything in my power to change things for the better?’

Nobody knows what happens next. 

Dr Capstick openly acknowledges the sad truth that globally we are off track, but does not give into despair, but instead calls for agency, stating that we are all willing and able to help our friend or neighbour when they need us.

‘Nobody knows what happens next. The climate and ecological emergency is guaranteed to get worse because we have yet to see the full consequences of what we have already set in motion and because globe emissions remain stubbornly colossal… but it’s up to us how much further down this road we go.’

The point being made here is not that scientists are ignorant in their understanding of climate projections, but rather that they are ignorant in their understanding of the impact of global mass movements of humans demanding climate action and how quickly these can be brought to the top of the priority list of governments. Dr Charlie Gardner makes the point in his contribution that there are uncertainties in the future projections precisely because we still have the ability to change the possible outcomes.

‘Ultimately, we don’t know how fast or how high the oceans will rise, because we don’t know how bad planetary heating is going to get. Stabilizing the climate requires slashing greenhouse gas emissions by ending the fossil fuel age and reversing the destruction of nature, which in turn requires a complete transformation in the way our economies and societies operate.

As an activist, I realized, I must do more than just ring the fire alarm: I must also detail the way out of the building and show people how to find it.’

What’s stopping us? ‘Superman’s Not Coming’

To quote the title of Erin Brockovich’s book, Superman’s Not Coming in a discussion about climate action is incredibly pertinent. Why do we always look for the ‘climate saviours’? Or the technology which will magically transform our planet at any cost, as long as capitalism isn’t disturbed as a system? We can point our finger at global leaders, or countries and arrogantly comment that we will act when we see them acting, or we can be the change ourselves that we need. 

What needs to change in your local park? Your local community? What is the air pollution like in some of your streets? How can you find out? How can you draw attention to these issues? Who else are you going to talk to about this? One person can become two very quickly. Two people can become twenty. And twenty can start a mass movement.

The final argument from Scientists On Survival should be given to Dr Abi Perrin who comments that the mass movements that we need to see have not yet happened and therefore we have an ‘undiscovered country’ ahead. She states succinctly, It’s hard to know how to end this story. Perhaps that’s because it’s not yet over.’

With role models around the world in a wide range of fields now arguing passionately for much- needed climate action, it’s surely time for a new narrative, because what we have done so far has brought us to this point. What we have been doing hasn’t worked- so what’s left? Dr Perrin and the other scientists in this collection make their plea again- what is stopping us from taking climate action as a species? With the stakes so high, the window of opportunity to change course closing so rapidly, and the opportunity- and responsibility- for scientists to make a difference, what’s stopping us? 

This lack of action can’t be our lethargic and apathetic response to the suffering of millions around the world. That we can’t be bothered to do anything to help? That we are happy to leave a world to our children which will contain so much pain? That the Global North will continue its imperialist racism and ignore the desperate cries of the Global South?

When we are ill, or have a fever, we can go to the doctor and listen and follow the expert advice on how to get better. For some reason, we cannot equate that we need to listen to climate scientists on how to lower the Earth’s fever.

A better world is worth fighting for.

After all, we have nothing to lose and only a world- the only one we have- to regain.