Wield Your Imagination
The future is here
Climate change will change everything. That’s a hard fact to wrap one’s head around. Human civilization has lived with relatively benign and consistent weather for its entire (at least recent) existence. With the weather getting worse, we will have to see whether civilization can weather the storm (pun intended). Energy systems will have to change to harness the abundant and cheap energy available at peak wind and sun hours. Supply chains will become more localized to avoid disruptions. Food systems will be entirely different to endure extreme weather. The examples could continue, but all signs point to a new era, and many trends and extrapolated curves will no longer hold true because the core assumption underlying almost all current models is a familiar world.
In all likelihood, if you really sat down and thought about the climate crisis, you’d probably be acting differently. Consider, for a moment, that even if we limit warming to 1.5 degrees, this summer is likely to be one of the best summers in the next 50+ years. This summer of droughts and wildfires in Europe and the Western US, flooding in Pakistan and Africa, heatwaves in China, famine in Sudan, Hurricane Ian, supply chain disruptions, etc. will be one of the nicer summers.
No one can truly fully predict or understand what happens next. But now that you have the extent of what will to change in your mind, consider the following questions:
What will the world look like in 10 years as temperatures continue to increase? Start by picking a place. What’s the same? What’s different? What happens over the course of a year? What was normal that is now scarce? What was scarce that is now normal? Really sit in this one remembering that this is one of the better summers we’ll have. If you need more inspiration, scroll through the news or check out Probable Futures.
How does this affect you, both personally and professionally? What happens to your family? Your company? The products you buy? What you wear? What you eat? What items you have on you at all times? Your insurance premiums? Your home?
What concerns and vulnerabilities jump out? What can you do to minimize their potential harm?
I’d wager that your answers to these questions call for different actions than what you are doing today. Consider your answers as your thesis, and continue to update it as we learn more about what the future has in store. Using your imagination is probably the best and only way to prepare for what’s coming. It also allows you to dream big, question assumptions, and envision and work towards a future where we do get it right. In my imagination: cities that resemble forests, quiet and full of life; pollution in all forms becoming a relic of the past, to be discovered in awe by kids like we did sea glass; and a return of our truly wild places. Maybe even perhaps Kim Stanley Robinson’s blimps.
The views expressed in these writings are my own and not those of my employer or previous employers. I am not responsible for third-party links nor the contents thereof.