Learning Climate Change — Start Wherever You Are
For the world to usher in needed climate change-change, the majority of people seeking climate education and speaking up in the public square will not be “climate pros” — climate scientists, public health researchers, and emergency managers. The climate emergency is too serious to leave to a small handful of people who, as specialized as they are in certain essential fields, are unlikely to be the well-informed generalists this climate crisis demands. Nor are specialists likely to be in touch in large enough numbers with geographically, demographically, and socio-economically varied members of society — the majority of whom must lend their political voice to create wise climate responses.
Each of us has a unique story of climate awareness. At the CO2 Foundation we have a series of mottoes designed to help people grasp big ideas that lead to a paradigm shift in awareness. One of them is Way-do-too, a simplification of the acronym WEYD-Do-TToo — “Whatever else you do, do this, too.” Whatever else each of us does, climate understanding and activism are important adds. There is no right or wrong place to start — just your place.
Science class memories
By the numbers, most of us have histories of learning science that are complicated by:
– Few opportunities to learn science, especially before high school.
– High school and college courses that were narrowly focused on preparing future scientists, not equipping “citizen scientists” with basic information we all need in order to understand how the planet works. Citizen science includes explaining connections among traditional science disciplines, like biology and physics. As you might guess, climate change is the grand champion of cross-disciplinary topics we would all benefit from understanding.
– In our youth, hormones and teen drama — scorching memories of being embarrassed by peers, dealing with a toad of a lab partner, or resenting a snippy/uncaring teacher — may have gotten in the way of learning what were otherwise highly engaging ideas. Even wonderfully supportive teachers of the past were often pedagogically unsophisticated compared to today’s standards of good teaching. By the time our brains mature, we’re out in the work-world; opportunities for playful wonderment and learning for learning’s sake can feel far behind us. (They are not, yet as adults we must seek out such learning opportunities.)
Most of us have had negative learning experiences in which we felt stupid, or ashamed, or doubted our abilities. As you dive into learning more about climate change, how does your own learning history impact your trajectory? What was positive about your scientific youth? What challenging? In what ways were your opportunities broad or limited?
Were you made to feel gloriously clever and told you could learn anything? Or did you “hate school” and struggle on the daily?
Teaching middle school science made me realize that most of us have a mixed history when it comes to learning, which plays out especially in science.
Before we learn anything, there has to be a moment of discomfort in which we think hard and enter the realm of the unknown. We’re looking, but we haven’t yet found. An attitude of curiosity can offset some of the feelings of vulnerability that attend trying to learn something new. But learning always includes at least a little vulnerability.
This vulnerability can be offset by the joy of discovery. Every student I’ve taught, even ones who some might call “problem” students, loved to work hard in the right setting. So, what can aid learning in this most important of settings: learning about planet-saving climate change, where we need to step out of our comfort zones and do something new?
– Being presented with small, clearly doable learning challenges so we feel successful, step-by-step.
– Covering material that allows us to experiment and get hands-on (the majority of students favor concrete learning more than abstract learning). For this reason, on my work agenda is setting up “citizen science academy” learning opportunities.
I became passionate about climate change after teaching middle school science for several years, and sought a job working full-time on climate change. Tremendous synchronicity brought me to work with Dr. William Calvin, professor emeritus from the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, who has studied climate change for 35 years. Among sixteen books, Bill is the author of Global Fever (University of Chicago Press, 2008), a primer on climate change. He wrote The Atlantic ’s cover story on climate instability, “The Great Climate Flip-Flop,” in January, 1998. Together, Bill and I have been exploring how best to communicate several key concepts about the climate emergency — concepts that have yet to become widely known, even among climate activists. Building up the CO2 Foundation has been the context for this paradigm-shifting work.
It is never too late. As each of us works to heal the deficits in our citizen science knowledge, we can also heal our perceptions of ourselves as learners.
Needed: Everyone a generalist (and some specialists)
There is a whole lot of climate science to learn. There is so much that even scientists tend to focus on particulars and leave out big ideas or cross-disciplinary concerns. For instance, as of this writing, the importance of reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere (the tub) is overshadowed in almost all climate change organizations and government activities by focusing on limiting the rate of emissions (turning down the faucet). Unfortunately, our overfull tub — which will stay full under natural conditions for ~1,000 years — is generating the extreme weather and sea-level rise responsible for most climate change damage. This is a tremendous misperception. Consequences of this widespread misperception include losing precious time for building political will to support the most effective interventions.
There are understandable, though not ideal, reasons for focusing on the faucet, not the tub. Emissions reduction seems more doable, and the faucet/tub analogy (or “storage problem”) is not obvious, even to MIT students. In the book Climate Shock, Gernot Wagner and Martin Weitzman describe John Sterman’s research on MIT students’ (mis)understanding of “The Bathtub Problem.” If MIT students miss this at first blush, there is no shame in it being non-obvious to members of the public. Yet the utility of its understanding cannot be overstated.
Tricky as it may be to grasp the idea of faucet (rate of emissions) vs. tub (overfull tub that threatens to drown us in extreme weather + sea-level rise), in order to back away from extreme weather events (the sea-level rise, alas, is already baked in) we must remove accumulated CO2 from the air (our tub). This urging was included in the latest IPCC special report.
Some additional factors explain the lack of widespread, relevant citizen science knowledge of climate change — besides the intellectual complexity and a lack of public education that teaches everyone citizen science:
– The urgency of the climate change/extreme weather situation is only slowly dawning on us as a species.
– People in the sciences and engineering tend to study things based on silos— departments like biology or mechanical engineering. That works well for small and focused projects, which most jobs demand. However, this narrow focus is wretched for giving people a well-rounded understanding of big problems, such as climate change, a crosser of all disciplinary boundaries.
– Earth and atmospheric sciences, where most climate change study takes place, tend to have small numbers of students and limited funding, compared to the biggie science disciplines — biology, chemistry, and physics.
– Most scientists are not trained professionally to communicate well with the public, or translate their ideas into writing good policy to get things done on a broad scale, in a timely manner. Nor are they likely to have attended carefully to how their ideas interact with other disciplines and the big picture.
– Scientists are taught to focus on developing a high degree of accuracy, and to postpone saying anything with certainty until they are…certain. Unfortunately, when scientists convey humility about their minute percentage of uncertainty, this lack of bombastic certainty seems to less informed thinkers among the public as though scientists don’t know what they’re talking about.
Time is an issue, too. Doctors, who are trained to focus on science and evidence-based research, are better at incorporating a sense of urgency into their work. A cast-iron lab result in two months can be less useful than keeping the patient alive in the emergency room today.
Balance
So, we need more careful, dedicated generalists with a sense of urgency.
Speaking of “general,” the military is another realm in which high-pressure reality is understood to be constantly evolving, demanding the best response possible in the moment, enacted using the resources and knowledge at hand. The military spends inordinate amounts of time and energy training, in order to be as well prepared as possible for a variety of “what ifs.”
And senior leaders of the US military already know that climate change is real and are implementing adaptive measures.
- From Vice: “U.S. Military Could Collapse Within 20 Years Due to Climate Change, Report Commissioned By Pentagon Says”
- From USA Today: “Trump’s skepticism aside, the Navy is taking climate change seriously”
- From Rolling Stone magazine: “The Pentagon & Climate Change: How Deniers Put National Security at Risk“
Our overall climate situation is pressing and complex. That is no reason to give up, or succumb to the rising social narrative that calls into question objective truth. Now is the time to double down on our learning, scanning the horizon for relevant information and connections about cause, effect, and unintended consequences. Such an approach is an intellectual parallel to what in the military is called “situational awareness.” Yes, there is stuff out there that matters to our safety and mission completion. We had better pay attention.
Having situational awareness or “eagle vision” is not indecisiveness or flip-floppery. It is a sage recognition that in a battlefield of many moving parts, the most perceptive and adaptable warrior takes the advantage.
We humans are fighting a global phenomenon of passive watching. Part of “balance,” the heading of this section, involves taking on — each of us — some of the responsibility for being alert and informed. The more of us who are contributing our best thinking and biggest doses of conscience, the better our interventions will be. As a species, we will not be able to avoid all harm, just as on a battlefield, but we can improve our chances — and limit damage.
Another part of balance: All this talk about learning may feel overwhelming. Yes, stay engaged. However, we need not devote every waking moment to climate/extreme weather response. Key involvements, such as garnering a basic level of climate literacy, about which we can speak with friends and colleagues, plus reaching out to galvanize (energize into proper action) public officials, are the two main avenues for public contribution.
In the personal setting, each of us can both embody the shift to low-carbon lifestyles and consider what elevated risks may accompany sea-level rise and the up-ticks in extreme weather where we live and travel: wildfires, floods, heat waves, etc. How do our communities need to shift to more sustainable practices in transportation, energy, housing, and commerce? Also, what would serve to harden our homes and communities against these threats? Once we know, we can chip away at preparations and ask (demanding, in a constructive way) our local government officials to make our communities safer.
Here is a final part of balance. I have spoken about the mind, and about constructive actions. Next are heart and spirit. It may seem as though our principles, empathy, and sense of connection to what is bigger and beyond ourselves, however we name that, is an extravagant softness when we’re talking about survival-related political urgency.
Yet, as a hospital chaplain, in addition to being a teacher, I can affirm what so many have said on their death beds: the important things in life are not things. Essential is our web of relationships and how we care for one another. Important are experiences of savoring the beauty and remarkable generosity inherent in the human experience — gratitude for being allowed to participate in the journey of life. Important is being allowed to contribute in ways that make other people, or animals, or an ecosystem better — now and into the future. Regardless of our degree of success, protection is now our greatest obligation and privilege.
We know disasters can bring out the best in people. That is remarkable, wonderful, and to be applauded at every turn. We simply can and must ensure that we also seek to prevent disasters, in addition to responding to them.
Questions for reflection
- What events/experiences/role models/big ideas have factored into your journey to recognizing the importance of extreme weather and climate change?
2. How do people become involved in causes and professions…and how might we amplify these pathways for our own learning, and to become guides for others? Such as…
– Intellectual curiosity
– A powerful personal experience
– An inspiring mentor or role model
– Many others whom we respect prioritizing the endeavor
Each one teaches one…
