Andialwaysunderstoodmyselftobe, youknow, like a goodliberalpersonconcernedaboutthefutureoftheplanet.
But I alsofeltthatmylifewassortofbeingconductedoutsideofnatureandthatinthefuturemanymoreliveswouldbe, um, conductedoutsideofnature.
Andso, while I wasworriedaboutthethreatfromclimatechange, I wasworriedaboutitin a kindoftrivialwayuntilrelativelyrecently.
Thatchangedabouttwoorthreeyearsagowhen, becauseofmyexistinginterestinthekindofnearfuture, I startedreading a lotofquitealarmingscientificpapersaboutwhatwaspossiblewithclimatechange.
Andas a journalistmyself, I watchedasthosesamereportsandotherslikethemwerecoveredinnewspapersandmagazinesandontelevisioninwaysthatseemedtomequitedivergentfromtherialfindingsoftheresearchitself.
I thoughttherewerebasicallythreebigmisapprehensionsthatthepublic, eventhekindofengagedpublicofwhich I was a member, hadaboutclimatechange.
Thefirstwasthatwehadbeentaughttoexpectthatclimatechangewasvery, veryslow, thatitwassomethingthatwouldbeunfoldingon a timescaleofdecadesatthefastestandprobablymorelikecenturies.
Andsowecouldimagine, whileitmightbe a problemforourgrandchildrenandtheirgrandchildren, thatwehad a lotoftimetoaddresstheissue, wehad a lotoftimetogrowourwayoutoftheissueandinventtechnologicalsolutionstotheproblem.
Infact, morethanhalfofallofthefossilfuelemissionsthatwe'veputintotheatmosphereinallofhumanhistoryhavebeenproducedinthelast 25 years, whichmeansthatwe'venowdonemoredamagetotheclimatesinceAlGorewrotehisfirstbookonglobalwarmingthaninallthemillenniabefore, sincethe U.
N.
Establishedthe I PCCthatinallthemillenniabeforethisisnotanoldphenomenon, we'renotdealingwiththelegacyoftheIndustrialRevolution.
Justabouteverylevelatwhichviolencecouldbeconductedbetweenpeoplegoesupwhenthetemperaturerisesandwe'relookingat a futurethat's gonnabe a lothotter, whichmeanswe'relookingat a futurethatislikelytobemuchmoreviolentineveryway.
Andthatisjust a signthateveryaspectofourliveswillbetouchedbyclimatechange.
It's a totalizing, allencompassingsystem, andeverythingwedooverthenextcenturywillbeconductedinthetheaterofclimatechange.
So I feelverystronglythatthiscenturythatwe'rewalkingintonowis, um, goingtobedefinedbythisissueinthesamewaythatpreviouscenturiesweredefined, say, bymodernityorbyfinancialcapitalism.
We'reenteringinto a newerainwhicheverythingaboutthewaythatwelivewillbescrambledbyclimatechange.
Anditiscertainlypossiblethatbytheendofmylifefortheendofmydaughter's lifewilllookbackandthinkofthe 21stcenturyas a majorsetbackintermsofhumanwellbeing, maybeonethathumanitywillneverbeabletorecoverfrom.
Butwhetherwegetthereagain, it's entirelyuptous.
Thereisallthisouttheretobeworriedabouttobeagitatedaboutandtobefocusedonat a politicallevel.
Oh, I amnotenvironmentalist.
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