By Sarah Leonard — 2012
Berry is best known for his attention to place—an insistence on community and an intimate knowledge of home, from the soil to the weather patterns to the human history.
Read on www.dissentmagazine.org
CLEAR ALL
A group of the world’s top ecologists have issued a stark warning about the snowballing crisis caused by climate change, population growth, and unchecked development. Their assessment is grim, but big-picture societal changes on a global scale can still avert a disastrous future.
The campaign to preserve half the Earth’s surface is being criticized for failing to take account of global inequality and human needs. But such protection is essential not just for nature, but also for creating a world that can improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged.
Facing oncoming climate disaster, some argue for “Deep Adaptation”—that we must prepare for inevitable collapse. However, this orientation is dangerously flawed. It threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy by diluting the efforts toward positive change.
Why bother? That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change, and it’s not an easy one to answer.
If we open to the possibility that a major paradigm shift of awareness around climate change is possible, we can become part of the tipping point that can make a huge difference to humanity, all other life forms and a planet crying out for our loving care.