In recent years, weather patterns around the world have grown fiercer than ever. Blizzards paralyze daily life across large areas of the nation, while intense heat waves and enduring droughts cripple food production in the West. Huge storms threaten to sweep away coastal communities. These, and other symptoms of climate disruption, have led to growing recognition that something must be done.
Yet few know what to do about climate change. Even some who do know don’t act for fear of the consequences of weaning humanity off of fossil fuels. Politicians and vested interests have bombarded the public with the myth that slowing or halting climate change will lead to devastating effects on people, jobs, and nation’s economies.
It’s time to bust that myth.
In 2006, I co-taught a graduate-level journalism coursewith writer Sandy Tolan called ‘Early Signs’. The class produced a series of nine stories that reported on how people were experiencing the first signs of impacts of climate change around the world. The series appeared on Salon and aired on NPR’s Living on Earth over nine weeks, and the entire project won a George Polk award in investigative journalism.Read more
