Gold Coast group member Mardi reviews Human Nature: nine ways to feel about our changing planet by Kate Marvel.
US climate scientist, author and mother of two boys Kate Marvel shares powerful and surprisingly personal stories of climate change through the lenses of wonder, anger, guilt, fear, grief, surprise, pride, hope and love.
She weaves together Greek mythology, ancient history, her love of nature, climate modelling, and more into a compelling read about the way our “perfect little world is changing”.
She is angry that fossil fuel companies hid and confuscated the truth, fearful of a heating world that we cannot adapt to, and guilty that those of us from high income countries are to blame. But there is also hope and love and more.
“Having children is like a declaration of allegiance to the future, an expression of wild hope that people are fundamentally good, or at least redeemable enough to excuse the choice to make more of them,” she writes.
There’s no doubt that time is running out to replace fossil fuels with renewables, defend the forests and oceans that protect us, rebuild our homes and cities to be more sustainable, liberate livestock grazing land by eating less meat, etc. She also shakes her head at CEOs who have knowingly sacrificed their grandchildren’s futures for profits, and at political leaders who wouldn’t act on the evidence.
No one is coming to help us. We have to create the world in which we want to live, she says.
“A happy ending is not guaranteed. But a better one is possible. If we are saved in the end, it will be by the collective effort of many people working together.”
I highly recommend this thoughtful book.
About our reviewer Mardi Chapman
Mardi Chapman is a Gold Coast mother of three young adults. She works as a medical writer and has become increasingly concerned about the impact of climate change on human health, as well as the health of the non-human species we share this planet with and unique places such as the Great Barrier Reef. One of the ways she shows up for climate action is as convenor of the Women’s Climate Congress online book club.