The Limits of “Experiencing” the Climate Crisis
While most of the world bakes, burns, and floods, the US East Coast, the cockpit of American capitalism, has largely avoided extreme weather events, lulling many into a false sense of security. Confronting the climate crisis requires thinking beyond our everyday experiences.
Passengers from New York City arrive at Union Station May 18, 2015 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong / Getty
July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded. Across much of the planet, the summer offered glimpses of the hellscape promised by our civilization’s current “business as usual” approach to the climate crisis.
Another summer, another terrible warning. And yet, there is little political response. Solutions move slowly, if at all.
Central in this dilemma is the problem of experience; or rather the limited utility of experience alone in understanding both the scientific realities of climate change and the political-economic realities of its causes and possible solutions.
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