-READ Robert Gifford’s 2011 article ‘The Dragons of Inaction’.
-READ Clayton et al’s 2015 article ‘Psychological Research and Climate Change’(
-WATCH the 2020 Netflix documentary ‘A Life in our Planet’, featuring David Attenborough
(If you do not have access to Netflix, or cannot find someone who does, please see below these instructions).*If you are unable to get access to Attenborough’s documentary, please watch Al Gore’s ‘The Case for Optimism on Climate Change’ (first 21 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7E1v24Dllk
…or Gore’s more recent but more technical 2021 TED Talk: ‘How to Make Radical Climate Action the New Normal’
Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8V23poB9Q
These TED talks are powerful and packed with important data and arguments. But they are drier and denser than the documentary.
Discuss the key ideas in each source. Show your understanding by engaging with the ideas and using at least THREE meaningful, relevant, informative, direct quotes PER resource (NINE in all). Use the following guide questions to generate material for your essay:
-What is/are the problem(s)? How did we get here? What factors or forces have gotten us to this point?
-What are the challenges we face? What does 2050 got to do with it? In what sense is 2050 ‘now’? Is there any basis for hope and if so, where?
-Which of Gifford’s ‘dragons’ resonate more with you and why? Discuss at least two?
-According to Clayton et al., what specific insights can psychology offer to inform successful implementation of climate-related plans and policies?
-What moments from David Attenborough’s documentary did you find moving, puzzling, eye-opening? Which of Attenborough’s recommendations resonate more with you?
-What does it mean to you to live in a time when humans must act in order to make sure that the next generation has a livable environment in which to live?
II. PERSONAL BEHAVIORS –
Based on the readings and other sources assigned, briefly discuss the following:
-3 things you are currently doing that are consistent with a sustainable future.
-3 things you could do differently and the corresponding 3 adjustments that you can make.
-3 major adjustments to your behavior or lifestyle that would require broader societal change (transportation, housing, food, waste, heat…)
Please be specific. Please give context where needed.
III- COLLECTIVE ACTION and SOLUTIONS –
Finally, go to the list of environmental/climate communication and action (Home Page – Climate Justice Alliance) Study their website( (sources, history, people…). Use these guide questions to learn about them: What kind of work do they do? Where? Who is involved? What recommendations do they make? How can you/your family/your community get involved? Focus on one or two things to keep it manageable.
Finally, add a conclusion in which you briefly discuss what you learned and how do you feel about the future regarding the climate crisis.
(PLEASE ONLY USE THE SOURCES I PROVIDED)
