Let’s Accept Climate Science — And Also Reimagine Our Relationship to the Earth

Desperate measures are needed to mitigate the climate crisis, but they can be filled with joy and imagination.

We often use a narrower set of scientific metrics to discuss climate change. It was scientists, after all, who produced clear research linking a change in the Earth’s temperature and climate to the burning of fossil fuels. However, generations of people had been sounding the alarm even earlier. The traditional and diverse teachingsof Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and colonized people in Africa, Asia and Oceania have long warned governments about the danger of unchecked exploitation of the Earth. While there may be different conceptions of the links between human activity and the environment, one fundamental conclusion is the same: Unsustainable practices will have consequences for humans. So, as we witness the effects that many people prophesied, we ought to diversify our own perspective. Science is critical in our understanding of climate, but it doesn’t have to be the only way. The human experience isn’t just scientific; it is spiritual, artistic, literary, musical and social, so why limit our discourse on this environmental crisis to just science? By integrating different perspectives and approaches to how we understand climate change, we open up the opportunity to see the problem differently and hopefully consider other solutions. 

Read the full article here.