Climate March in Washington, DC 2017
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how wildlife conservation work connects people on many levels. This week I’d like to explore how work related to the climate crisis is similar to conservation work.
I have been a climate activist for many years now and trained with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project to become a Climate Leader in 2013. Like conservation, this is work that can bring much anxiety and despair as we watch other human beings destroy what is important, precious and vital to our survival, either through purposeful actions, indifference or benign neglect. There is also a great overlap between wildlife conservation/biodiversity loss and the climate crisis. To some extent, one may “feed” off of the other when, for example, melting polar ice leads to the disappearance of wildlife that depends on that ecosystem. Or when the loss of a predator species leads to the increase of a pest species that then exacerbates climate change by damaging plants that absorb carbon dioxide. And so on and so on…
All, however, is not gloom and doom. There is little that is more inspiring than marching with hundreds of thousands of people who all know that action must be taken as soon as possible to halt and reverse climate change as much as possible. Or than attending a climate organizing meeting that is standing room only. I have recently become more involved as a climate activist on the local level and have met a number of amazing people who restore my faith in humanity – perhaps not all of humanity, but enough to keep me going. The combined creativity, wisdom and energy of climate and other environmental activists has already achieved much and I’m hopeful will achieve much, much more – even, perhaps, the impossible.
Science March in NYC 2017
Climate activists care deeply about the future of humankind, other species and the environment upon which we all depend. As with wildlife conservation, there is much hope and meaning that comes from the work we do and as we support each other and celebrate our successes, however large or small. And, perhaps unlike wildlife conservation, climate activism can be done by anyone, anywhere and at any time. Below are links to some climate groups from which you can learn more about how you, too, can become involved. Humanity needs all the help and inspiration it can get.