You would be totally in the majority if you thought the recent IPCC report declared, “Humans are screwed, let’s just give up.”
That’s how much of the media reported it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy they are reporting on the climate emergency so much more than even a few months ago and the way the climate crisis gets reported is often problematic.
They don’t make the link to climate change and fossil fuels often or clear enough.
And they don’t make this point,” …So the report was very, very clear about what would happen theoretically if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow… we could stop warming. If we began to draw them down, to take them out of the atmosphere, we could restore a lot of what was lost—not everything, I want to be really clear about that. But for a long time, we thought that carbon dioxide was forever. And it’s true that carbon dioxide is very long lived in the atmosphere. That’s why we care about cumulative emissions. But if we stop, we can really control this thing.”
That was from climate scientist Kate Marvel being interviewed by Mary Annaïse Heglar’s. You can read it here.
I also loved this piece about dealing with climate dread by Dr. Britt Wray.
And this one about if you have money to spend on the climate crisis, where to give?
We are in this together. You are not alone. If you feel overwhelmed, take some time to recharge. If you feel energetic, take some more action.
There is no one solution for this crisis. No one person is going to save us.
Do what you can, call your reps, talk about the crisis with your family and friends (even though they may hate it), be noisy, be creative.
It all matters.
Despair feds on inaction.
Despair grows in isolation.
Despair loves you to think nobody gets it.
I get it. You get it. We are in this together.
What is Create + Climate about? Here’s the explanation and invitation.
Here are previous posts and suggestions for creating.
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Know that creating anything for anybody is going to feel so good. Action + stubborn optimism is what we need! Don’t make this a big ding-dang-do, just make it a do!