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- Carl Sagan, 1990
Eighteen crucial years ago, William Ruddiman wrote in Adbusters: "The temperature rises. Water grows scarce. Animals vanish. The skies turn deadly. Our response so far: total inertia. Our fears have been eased by the assumption that we could, in a pinch, band together and turn things around if they start getting really bad."
Credit: MidJourney
Things have started “getting really bad” and are unravelling quickly. We've crossed several critical temperature thresholds in 2023, and thousands of species, invisible from our insulated lives, have disappeared. "This is the new extinction & we are halfway through it. We are in terrible, terrible trouble and the longer we wait to do something about it, the worse it is going to get." David Attenborough said in 2019.
Most of us – including the politicians tasked with protecting our futures – are unable or unwilling to grasp non-linear effects: irreversible tipping points; runaway systems collapse. Our brains and our societies cannot fathom the harsh realities of a planetary scale domino effect.
It is forgivable for most people to not appreciate these complex phenomena and their implications – we all lead busy lives. But, if your brain can grasp non-linear effects, the vastness of the challenge, the urgency to act, the deadly risk of inaction, the entrenched systems & interests that obstruct us from rolling out proven solutions – then it falls you (all) to climb out of our daily inertia and shake things up, to the best of your abilities.
-David Attenborough, 2019
Yuval Noah Harari rightly says that true courage is not the physical courage of battle; it is the moral courage to fight against the apathy of others in the face of wickedness. This has never been more apt than it is today.
Your moral courage is needed now more than ever: if not you, then who? Every conversation with friends or colleagues, is an opportunity to push for radical change, to ruthlessly insist on it. Pressure your politicians, the businesses you patronise, the communities you lead...insist that they do better; insist they do it now.
If climate protestors block the road or interrupt an event, don't mock, or vilify them: support them even if your day's been ruined. They are fighting for a cause far greater than your tennis match, your shopping trip, even your kid's school play. If you think they can achieve their aims more effectively, then explain to them and their supporters how. Defend them from those who deny science, who deny the climactic changes that their eyes can see, those who are weighed down by societal inertia.
Stand up. Be warriors for change. If you don't know how, ask for guidance from people already dedicating their lives to protect Earth.
And above all, act – at whatever level you can manage with the means you have.
Protect our Pale Blue Dot.