5 Layers of Climate Change
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Climate change news keeps showing up on my clipboards in diagrams. In my last blog I shared an image for sorting climate headlines into five concentric layers. I started closest to home with Food in the center. Moving outward, I put our Stuff, Energy, Habitats, and the Lifesupports of air and water further out. Here’s a brief tour and five questions you can use to see what climate change layers interest you most (and maybe some you want to leave to others).
Food
Food is in the center since it includes daily decisions. Even though human biology lets us choose from a wide variety, we are limited by economic and social patterns. The pricing in our food industries reflects both scarcity (caviar) and the roles food plays in our family and cultural identities (again, for Russians, caviar).
If you like, take a minute and jot down your number for Food:
How drawn are you to the connections between climate change and Food?
Not at all Very Much
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
Good. Now on to tools and toys which I call -
Stuff
How we produce, choose, and discard our earthly belongings has become a global problem. The fact that humpback whales swim in a habitat with a garbage patch three times the size of France is known because the plastic is visible. Worldwide shipping carrying our consumer choices adds the invisible pollution of fossil fuels and noise.
Think about or jot down your number for Stuff:
How drawn are you to the connections between climate change and Stuff?
Not at all Very Much
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
Excellent.
Energy
Since the industrial revolution, humans have interwoven energy sources into nearly all facets of our lives, far beyond the gifts of heat and light. Once satellites sidestepped the need for hardwiring, lifestyles, and sometimes life itself, hinge on cheap energy sources worldwide. The costs of fossil fuels’ creeping exhaust is affecting those who have fewer options first.
Notice and jot down your number for Energy:
How drawn are you to the connections between climate change and Energy?
Not at all Very Much
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
Of course fossil fuels also affect -
Habitat
Temperature, sunlight, acidity, tides, plus humans intermingle to create regional habitats that are unique. If we don’t understand what keeps them humming, we can’t protect them, nor the creatures that depend on them for life. Learning how to restore and conserve the habitats we love needs more knowhow from natural science and respect for the knowledge of local people.
Take a minute and think about or jot down your number for Habitats you care about:
How drawn are you to the connections between climate change and Habitat?
Not at all Very Much
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
And lastly -
Life Support
Each species needs specific patterns of clean air and water to survive. These resources may differ by region but are inherently global; they are held in “common”, and give not a fig for the national boundaries we draw on maps.
Jot down your number for Life Support:
How drawn are you to the connections between climate change and Life Support?
Not at all Very Much
0…..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
So there it is. Comparing your numbers gives you an simplified set of layers to use as you listen to or turn off climate news. Even if they’re not so separate in real life, I’ve found that keeping in mind which ones I’m personally drawn to helps me; perhaps they’ll help you consider your climate choices in new ways.
If you’ve compared the numbers that came up for each of the five, please do share them in a Comment. You never know when why you’re drawn toward a layer can help others sort more clearly. No login is needed. Just add your thoughts below and then click “Comment as Guest.”
#climate change choices
