Something i Promised i'd Never Say

When i decided to switch from working as an environmental scientist to becoming and environmental science teacher there was something i promised myself that i would never say in class. Over the fifteen years i spent teaching, that thing - that hypothesis i wouldn't bring up or discuss collected more and more data. Evidence kept coming in and it kept growing bigger and bigger and as it did it haunted me more and more.

As both a scientist and as a teacher i was compelled to identify truth and to share truth. i never lied but i chose not to bring up this truth. Teachers get asked all kinds of things that they have to skirt around, mostly in the name of professionalism. It is natural for students to inquire about some of the more human sides of this person who stands amongst them and attempts to educate them. Teachers get very adept at figuring out where to draw lines and how to protect their privacy in tactful ways both for themselves and for the benefit of their students. i used these skills we all learn to develop in the profession to also keep this one topic out of discussions.

Hope is an important thing, especially in our youth. A loss of hope often leads to inaction. Hope is what keeps us all pushing forward in every regard and in every setting. Hope is what gets us to muster the courage to talk to that girl (or guy) we like. A hope to express what we are feeling or experiencing drives us to create art and music, to write and communicate with one another. The hope that our lives can and will get better and better over time drives us to work harder towards our goals, our ambitions, our passions. We all deserve hope and in youth with so much ahead and with the rapid pace of development during that time in our lives i believe that hope is even more important both for the individual and the larger society in which we all are intertwined.

i am not alone in this inner turmoil. It is a fine line that divides a push to action and a collapse into hopelessness. Despite knowing what i know, i have not ceased in my endeavor to make things better, my endeavor to change things, and i did not want to freeze my students before they even really got themselves moving. i am glad i made that decision and would make it again, but i am now no longer a teacher and now believe that in this new role - this new phase in my life, i must be willing to openly discuss this divisive truth.

What i decided not to share with my students is this: there is no longer a way to stop climate change from causing the extinction of humans on this planet. i believe my fears that this may drive some to inaction or hopelessness was justified. The need for powerful and quick change is arguably more important than ever knowing this bit of information. Although the end result will remain the same the timeline and the overall quality of life can be VASTLY improved if we incorporate this information into each and every decision we make.

The quicker and more aggressively we eliminate the causes of climate change the longer our species will survive.  My fellow humans around the planet are already experiencing the effects of climate change and many are already suffering.  Our response to the fact that we have ultimately caused the extinction of our own species will determine how many will suffer and how long we can maintain a revised quality of life that can help ease pain for our fellow homo sapiens.  How many more generations will be able to survive on Earth - our home - will be determined by our actions or inaction.  This is why i did not want to risk my very intelligent and insightful students losing hope.  This is why i promised myself i would not say this in class.

For 40 years i have learned about our environment and i have fallen in love with the life on this planet and the beauty of this planet. i have spent the entirety of my adult life striving to improve the condition of our environment both personally and in an employment setting.  After spending all this time using the facts, using measurements, and using information to strive to improve our species' impact on the planet and seeing a lack of necessary progress i have chosen to pursue a new means of methodology in my lifelong work to do right by our planet.

i am now choosing to speak of our environment and the life on this planet in a more human and emotional way. Although we have not been able to rely on our brains to lead us to do the right thing, i do believe that maybe we can rely on our hearts to help us find motivation to do what is right. Just as i believed my students needed to maintain hope, i acknowledge that i too have a need to maintain hope. Banging my head against a wall trying to use logic was stripping me of a sense of hope. Much like when a loved one is diagnosed with terminal cancer, i am hoping to do whatever i can to make us all enjoy the highest quality of life possible for as long as possible. No hiding of the truth, just facing it together with compassion and empathy.