For so long mankind has stopped at nothing to acquire the resources necessary to live. For hundreds of thousands of years human life was an incredible task for all but the luckiest few. In the last 200 years the leaps and bounds of human ingenuity and technology have literally propelled us around the world and off of it. We have harnessed energy found in the remnants of ancient life’s struggle and we have used it to make our lives more comfortable and fulfilling. We now communicate with the entire world nearly instantaneously thanks to nearly autonomous machines orbiting our planet. We move goods, materials and people across the globe in a matter of days. These technologies have given mankind some of its greatest achievements, and some of its greatest tragedies. This historic, even prehistoric, perspective has not been lost on me during these lessons. The issue we are discussing is deeply rooted in our nature and therefore so difficult to illicit change.
The conversation we’ve engaged in the last several weeks has asked us hard questions about the life that humans have fashioned for themselves over these last few hundred years. What is required for a fulfilling life? What is needed to achieve that? How can I leave this planet the same it was when I entered it? These questions force us to think of the sustainability of our actions. Can we continue to go on this way forever? Why not?
Until recently that last question was harder to answer – indeed some people in very high places aren’t convinced we can’t. But the evidence points to the contrary. If we are to preserve a particular quality of life for ourselves and future generations, for now and into perpetuity, we need to respond to the message our planet’s climate is sending us: "I'm HOT!" The conversation about the data seems grim, but the quest for change does not need to be. Doom and gloom sells in the box office, but in the classroom the things we discuss are real and matter to students. If we are to ask them to think deeply about solutions it cannot be for nothing. The belief that we can change our behaviors must be at the core of what we teach. If we can propose appealing sustainability choices - change will happen. If we can propose better alternatives - change will happen. The actions taking place now across the world give me heart that people are receiving the message. If change can come from within, and then inside a home, then a community, then I believe our kind will have made the necessary adjustments. We must place importance on the evidence. Our charge to foster scientifically literate students is more important now than it ever has been. We need to teach to weigh the arguments in light of the evidence. When asked about solutions we need to direct toward attainable goals. This work has reinvigorated the topic in the context of my curriculum and I am optimistic about a more sustainable future.