Scientists On Survival – a collection of essays, articles and thoughts from Scientists for XR – is a rare beast. It is not a climate science book – it’s a cry from the heart. These are personal, urgent reflections of experts who’ve moved from research to rebellion, from publishing to protesting.
As writer and campaigner Matthew Todd says: “This collection of essays is deeply moving, inspiring and profoundly important.”
Scientists On Survival
The climate clock is running out, but before all is lost to time, we have the opportunity to protect ourselves, other species and our future.
But it seems that vested interests persist in undermining science and discrediting experts – stretching from Galileo’s trials to President Trump’s dismissal of NOAA employees. Nothing seems to change. And yet we have seen time and again throughout history that everything can change.
As Chris Packham, who has campaigned for many years for the protection of nature, the conservation of species and a love for nature, notes bluntly in the foreword:
“And the truth is undeniable: life on Earth is in desperate peril. Our world is burning, melting, drowning and degrading in ways we can simply no longer ignore. Powerful vested interests – fossil fuels, industrial agriculture and chemical giants – have obscured the facts and silenced the voices of those truth tellers
“This is not a book about the science of climate breakdown or biodiversity loss. It is a collection of human stories told through a fierce love for our natural world.”
Finding a voice
Scientists on Survival is structured in three sections – the scientists’ perspectives on the climate crisis and their pivotal moments; their personal responses, including lifestyle changes and mindset shifts; and their efforts to raise global awareness of government inaction through non-violent protests.
Dr Ryan Walker asks the burning question,“How have we got to this? How could a problem that we have known about for more than 40 years be allowed to get progressively worse?”
A question to which we sadly know the answer. Fossil fuel companies and an insatiable capitalist system have manipulated us into thinking that individual status and wealth are more important than global cooperation and action. Divisions, Dr Abi Perrin also notes, have been created artificially to ensure that the capitalist system and structure remains intact. “I sit with a fear that, at a time when we desperately need to be pulling together, we are instead seeing further polarization and division in our societies.”
Dr Tristram Wyatt urges us to talk about the climate as often as possible, because being part of a community – even a niche community – empowers us and changes the narrative to a human-based one. He argues: “It might not be for you, but speaking about the climate crisis can be cathartic.” Dr Laura Thomas-Walters adds that family and friends make the most effective messengers: “Still the number one easy thing to do is talk!”
Someone is always listening. We all have skin in the game.
From awareness to action
It’s comfortable to not look at a problem. It’s convenient to allow the demand for climate action to be met by other people. There is a peace to be found in saying, ‘Other people have protested and it hasn’t changed anything, so it never will’. Dr Stuart Capstick challenges this emotional response head on when he explores climate activists’ motivation.
“I’ve often wondered what it is that moves someone from being vaguely concerned about the environment, to that visceral grasp of the true scale, horror and injustice of the emergency heading our way. And I feel more vulnerable, confused, heartbroken and afraid than ever. Why do we know but not act? Why do we participate so willingly in our own downfall? Is it the sad truth that we’ll only know what we’ve got once it’s gone?”
Wilful blindness, wilful ignorance is the easy option and the wide, straight, easy path. No wonder it’s so popular.
How do we act, though, knowingly hurting the ones we love?
We will all find chapters and essays in this book that resonate with us, and that is exactly the point of the many voices. Humans make connections with other humans and shared experiences can be a powerful way to start climate conversations.
Dr Viola Ross-Smith’s chapter affected me strongly, as she described bringing up a child in this new world and how we equip our children to be informed and adapt. With my own eight-year-old, who could reasonably live to see 2100, what will that world look like and how could we leave it a better place than the path it’s currently headed down?
“How do I bring my brilliant boy up so he understands what’s already happening, let alone prepare him for what’s coming? How do I equip him for the future without filling him with despair? But can I afford not to act when his future is at stake? What kind of parent would I be if I didn’t try everything in my power to change things for the better?”
The future is still ours to shape
Dr Capstick openly acknowledges the sad truth that we have lost our way globally, but rather than despair, he calls for agency, emphasising how we are all willing and able to help a friend or neighbour in need.
“Nobody knows what happens next. The climate and ecological emergency is guaranteed to get worse because we have yet to see the full consequences of what we have already set in motion and because globe emissions remain stubbornly colossal … but it’s up to us how much further down this road we go.”
The point is not that scientists are ignorant of climate projections, but that the impact of global mass movements of people demanding climate action is unknowable, neither is how quickly the issues can be moved up governments’ list of priorities. Dr Charlie Gardner makes the point that uncertainties in future projections exist precisely because we still have the chance to change the possible outcomes: “As an activist, I realized, I must do more than just ring the fire alarm: I must also detail the way out of the building and show people how to find it.”
What’s stopping us? ‘Superman’s not coming’
The title of Erin Brockovich’s book, Superman’s Not Coming, is highly pertinent to a discussion about climate action. Our collective hesitation often hinges on false hopes – waiting for a saviour or for technology or politicians to do what we must do ourselves. We can point a finger at world leaders and arrogantly comment that we will act when we see them act, or we can be the change we need.
By looking at what needs to change in your local park or community, by finding out about issues like air pollution in your streets, by working out how you can raise awareness of these issues and who else you are going to talk to about it – in this way, one person can very quickly become two. Two people can become 20. And 20 can start a mass movement.
The story isn’t over
The final argument from Scientists On Survival should be given to Dr Abi Perrin who notes that the mass movements that we need to see have not yet happened, and therefore we have ‘undiscovered country’ ahead of us. She states succinctly:“It’s hard to know how to end this story. Perhaps that’s because it’s not yet over.”
With role models around the world in a wide range of fields now arguing passionately for much-needed climate action, a new new narrative is needed, because it’s evident that what we have done so far has fallen short. Dr Perrin and (her fellow-scientists in this collection) ask again: “With the stakes so high, the window of opportunity to change course closing so rapidly, and the opportunity – and responsibility – for scientists to make a difference, what’s stopping us?”
This inaction simply cannot be our apathetic response to the suffering of millions around the world. That we don’t bother to do anything to help; that we are happy to leave to our children a world that contains so much pain; that the global north will continue its imperialist racism and ignore the desperate cries of the global south.
When we are ill, we consult a doctor and heed their expert advice on how to get better. Yet we hesitate to follow the guidance of climate scientists on how to bring down the Earth’s fever.
A better world is worth fighting for; after all, we have nothing to lose and just our one-and-only planet to win back.
