Arc of History
Can we find climate hope in our past?
This is a guest issue by Terry Lawson Dunn
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the idea of living through the ‘arc of history’.
That’s hard to narrow down to a specific timeline. History could be last week when I watched news reports of wildfires approaching the house I grew up in. Or it could be five years ago when historical events narrowed our lives to the inside of our homes. But, because I’m now in my early 60s, a long way from being the eight-year-old girl who proclaimed I wanted to ‘save all the animals’ and have now spent decades trying to do just that, my ‘arc of history’ has become my lifetime.
A lot of things have changed for the good in that time. While I’m keenly aware of what is at stake right now and of time feeling short, I also know what is possible when people hold a hopeful vision of the future.
Every step, every action that is taken towards dealing with climate change, biodiversity conservation, slowing deforestation, or whatever, is only taken because there is a vision of how things can be better. Hope is at the root.
When I interact with people now, especially younger people, who are feeling like all is lost, I have street cred because of my personal ride on the arc of history.
My cells remember the sadness, fear, and anger of being a young person who heard there would be no whales, bald eagles, or sea otters by the time I grew up. I breathed in the smoggy, Los Angeles air as a teenager and it left a sting in my esophagus when I would go for a run. Tar balls washed up on the beaches when I was in middle school. Rivers caught on fire elsewhere (try explaining to a kid today how water can catch on fire!).
By the time I was in college, statues in Europe looked like they were melting and forests were turning brown from acid rain. And almost no one remembers the ozone hole today. I was also one of the only women in my college wildlife biology classes. It felt like it was all a swim against the tide.
I am sure humanity can deal with the current, big issues facing the environment because we’ve had practice now.
Our world does not look like it did when I was growing up. Rivers don’t catch on fire, acid rain is not damaging our monuments and forests, and I can see the ground before landing in Los Angeles rather than descending into a blanket of brown air. When I need to encourage someone about what is possible, I pull out one of the most compelling statistics I know. The Endangered Species Act, which turned 50 years old a couple years ago, has kept 99% of the listed species from going extinct.
Ninety-nine percent!
And now, we have all hands on deck, with more women in all the professions that support the big issues facing us and kids who have a global voice through the internet.
I’ll admit, sometimes that sadness, fear, and anger return, especially because climate change affects literally everything, but I only allow myself to feel it briefly. At this stage of my life, I don’t have the feeling that time is expansive. Instead, I see that it’s time to work smarter, not harder.
I also recognize that perhaps things never happen as fast or as soon as they need to, but that doesn’t mean change isn’t happening. Now, I see that the most amazing leaders that have emerged in the past were thrust into the limelight precisely because things were not good. We wouldn’t know them if there weren’t things to fix, they weren’t spurred into action, and if they didn’t share their hopeful vision with the rest of us. (I’m thinking of you Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Rachel Carson, and Jane Goodall).
So, at this moment, as I write this, when the clock sometimes feels like it’s going to wind backwards, I also deeply believe that our future, visionary leaders are here among us. They are taking first steps, charging their mental batteries, informing themselves, developing strategies, and we are already being gifted with their first insights and visions.
Perhaps you are one of them. The world needs your energy, bravery, talents, and hope. Your timing is perfect.
Thank you Terri for your wonderful contribution and for all the work you’ve done over the years to make this world a more just and beautiful place! — AT
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