23 November 2018

we only have a dozen years

This is what I read while I am waiting for a baby being born. While I am torn between excitement, wonder and terror. And, I admit that with shame, relief that in 12 years I may be long gone.

Yesterday, I was stuck for almost two hours in a traffic jam on my way home from work. At one point I contemplated leaving the car there and then and just walk away from it. I imagined a long line of abandoned cars while more and more people walked and skipped and danced along the roads and down to the river, laughing and holding hands.


"According to this new report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have only twelve years to slash greenhouse gas emissions by forty to fifty percent. One dozen. That’s not much time when it’s already twelve midnight, and the ticking has grown loud. Do we hear it? Will we act in time?
. . .
History shows that humanity has the potential to mobilize masses to achieve success. But can we do this to heal the climate in a mere twelve years? Can we rally billions of people against something we cannot see, smell, or taste? Can we go after an enemy, even if that enemy is us? How much sacrifice can we inspire every person to make? Because this is what it will take, and more: Setting thermostats to a cool sixty degrees in winter and pulling on sweaters and hats indoors. Cutting industrial meat consumption in half. Ending food waste. Insulating all buildings. Slashing plastics production. Taking buses, bicycles, and the balls of our feet. And the big one: cutting our consumption of stuff by a whopping fifty percent, or more. Those who are most impacted by climate change are already living with very little. Now, it is our turn.
. . .
Yes, we will be cold at times. Yes, we will have to reuse almost everything. Yes, we will lose weight. Yes, we will make do with less. It will not be easy. It will seem impossible. But in the doing, we will also build community and share resources and strengthen our social fabric. We will make music and art. We will dance in the streets to stay warm. We will hold hands and stick together.
. . .
The babies born last week and this week and next week are waiting for us. And when they turn twelve – if we succeed – the world will be a better place. But we have only a dozen years. That fleeting window of time between birth and becoming a teen. One hundred and forty-odd full moons (more than one has already passed since the report was published). Twelve years. The pairs of ribs protecting our hearts and lungs. Take a breath. Now act."



Read the whole article by Gregg Kleiner here.

10 comments:

  1. If this doesn't motivate people to action I don't know what will.

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  2. I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I'm pessimistic about our ability to adequately address climate change at all, much less in a dozen years. And while I would LOVE to see us all consume less stuff, I don't know how many of us worldwide will make a living if we're not manufacturing. Obtaining raw materials, manufacturing, shipping, selling and consuming stuff is a huge proportion -- if not the lion's share -- of the world's economy! How would that work?

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  3. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Sabine. We are waiting with you for a baby to be born.

    For all the babies being born, I believe in the impossible. Starting with the possible. What it will take. I, too, have thought of walking away from my car, which I use minimally at this point. I am living with very little compared to many and yet much to compared to those most impacted by climate change.

    Ursula K. Le Guin's vision of the future in Always Coming Home came to me just now. To my mind, it is a story of the people who survive what is predicted to come in 12 years. The Kesh and the Dayao. Not a utopia. Not a dystopia either.

    "The first part of the book weaves around the story of Stone Telling, who spent her childhood with her mother's people in The Valley, and as a very young woman lived several years with her father's people in The City. The two societies are contrasted through her narrative: the Kesh are tolerant, peaceable, and self-organized, whereas the Dayao or Condor people of The City are rigid, patriarchal, hierarchical, militaristic, and expansionist."

    from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_Coming_Home

    Have you seen "Leave No Trace"? It is the story of a veteran of Afghanistan/Iraq who learns to leave no carbon footprint in response to the extreme trauma of war. His connection to community is tenuous but essential. In the context of what you and Gregg Kleiner wrote, that film came to my mind. I have not stopped thinking about that film.

    Finally saw "City of Joy" as a result of your recommendation. That was made possible due to a friend giving me her Netflix password. Finding the possible in impossible circumstances. Stories of undeniable horror and something beyond that as the women danced together and as they expressed their gratitude to the man and women who helped them. Human kindness overflowing.

    Sending love. Always.

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  4. too much greed. we won't make it. I don't think we have it in us or we would have already begun.

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    1. I agree. All the little daily efforts of common folk just aint gonna do it. It will take fundamental change at the big business level, and they have always cared more for money than people. This boat is sinking.

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  5. Should we even be making babies for those 12 years?

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  6. I sadly have to say I don't think we humans will take any significant action that will have the necessary impact. We have a government that denies that climate change exists. Our planet really can't support a population of 7 billion humans, all who need food water and warmth.

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    1. You've been saying this for years and I always thought it a bit too pessimistic. Not any more. I'm afraid you are spot on.

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  7. I don't know what to say. I doubt humans will come together and do what's best for everybody. I think the rich will survive. I think the poor will suffer and die. I have a grandson due in four months and I worry what his life will be like, individually and generally.

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  8. My dear friend, a transwoman with dual PhDs and a futurist/AI/transgressive super hero creator that lectures to college students about the imperative to act...was asked recently what we could do about climate change and she said, "Everything, we have to do everything! It's not enough to recycle and drive a Prius!" You're right, the list of what we must and eventually will do is what is ahead. 12 years. The babies I deliver now are the inheritors of this mess...

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