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In early May\u00a0The Guardian<\/em> reported on a survey that explored the thoughts and feelings of 380 climate scientists<\/a>. It was not uplifting. The pull quotes tell a story of anguish. \u201cSometimes it is almost impossible not to feel hopeless and broken\u2026Running away from it is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrenching articles<\/a>\u00a0like these showcase climatologists\u2019 anxiety. They are watching their predictions realized with too much fidelity; their warnings going largely unheeded by the humanity that climate scientist\u00a0James Hansen called \u201cdamned fools.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Some climate scientists have even\u00a0proposed<\/a>\u00a0a moratorium on climate research<\/a>.<\/p>\n Climatologists are not OK.<\/p>\n The\u00a0acceleration of the climate crisis has been breathtaking<\/a>\u00a0and talking to experts in a time of crisis is a good thing. But these articles are problematic. They seek to\u00a0motivate through fear<\/a>\u00a0while usualy offering only vague notions of absent \u201cpolitical will\u201d to diagnosis the problem and little beyond \u201clisten to the scientists\u201d as a solution.<\/p>\n Further, the concerns and practices of climate\u00a0social<\/em>\u00a0scientists have not featured prominently in these discussions. This is a significant oversight.<\/p>\n Climate natural scientists are not trained to understand why people aren\u2019t listening to their entreaties or the obstacles to and opportunities for action. Climate social scientists, on the other hand, understand the climate crisis and are\u00a0experts in humanity\u2019s efforts to address climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the last two years, I have interviewed more than 20 colleagues across the climate social sciences about how they are navigating the climate crisis in their research, teaching and personal lives. These interviews were undertaken as part of an ongoing project exploring the perspectives and roles of climate social scientists in a time of climate crisis. They may offer a useful and motivating perspective that the world could certainly use.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that climate social scientists are doing great either. They know too much about the climate crisis to be cheery \u2014 fear, guilt, gloom, anger and frustration were all prevalent.\u00a0Cristina Yuma Aoki Inoue<\/a>\u00a0from Radboud University articulated a common lament: \u201cIf I think too much about the future, I get desperate.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, none of those interviewed showed signs of throwing in the towel or leaving the climate crisis for amorphous others to solve. Instead, there\u2019s a conscious commitment to positivity in the face disheartening climate news.<\/p>\n University of British Columbia (UBC) scholar\u00a0Peter Dauvergne<\/a>\u00a0noted that he is \u201cintentionally optimistic.\u201d And while some \u2014 like British political scientist\u00a0Matthew Paterson<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 feel \u201cguilt that our community was not louder earlier,\u201d there is consensus around the \u201csense of possibility\u201d that Oxford University\u2019s\u00a0Thomas Hale<\/a>\u00a0sees.<\/p>\n \u201cHope is a practice,\u201d remarked\u00a0Harriet Bulkeley<\/a>\u00a0from the University of Durham, and this community actively cultivates that practice.<\/p>\n In fact, none of the scholars I spoke with consider doing the work of understanding and conceiving a just, effective response to the climate crisis to be a choice. Climate\u00a0despair is a luxury<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0those not living through climate disasters or who have the means to survive them<\/a>.<\/p>\n As such there is a collective feeling of responsibility on the part of climate social scientists to work to advance long-term transformations towards sustainability and justice. This struggle is \u201call we are promised,\u201d\u00a0Kemi Fuentes-George<\/a>\u00a0from Middlebury College clarified. And the work is valuable apart from the achievement of the solution to climate change.<\/p>\n As\u00a0Peter Newell from the University of Sussex<\/a>\u00a0reminds us: The climate social science community starts their teaching and research where the bulk of the\u00a0\u201cclimate scientists are despairing\u201d type articles<\/a>\u00a0end their discussions. By making concrete the vague notion of political will, and striving to specify necessary action in the face of climate crisis, social scientists help to provide key nuance.<\/p>\n No one thinks this will be easy. Indeed, as climate governance scholar\u00a0Aarti Gupta<\/a>\u00a0expressed: Those I spoke with are unanimously committed to articulating the possibilities for change in their research and classrooms. Rather than trudging through endless analyses of the failure to act, scholars like\u00a0Kathryn Harrison<\/a>\u00a0at UBC are \u201cteaching the reality of obstacles while teasing out what might be different.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone I spoke with is committed to what\u00a0Chukwumerije Okereke<\/a>\u00a0from Bristol University described as reflecting \u201cboth hope and anxiety\u201d in their work. But the key, as Dauvergne suggests, is focusing on \u201cmany future possibilities that could be better.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate social scientists are explaining the crisis, but also showcasing where there is momentum for an equitable response to climate change and where more effort is needed to, in Indian climate policy expert\u00a0Navroz Dubash\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0words, \u201cbuild the society we want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate social scientists are people too, living in\u00a0world dominated by fossil energy<\/a>. We research ways that might change, but often feel conflicted about personal choices.<\/p>\n The experts I interviewed think deeply about their personal actions. Importantly, they do so in light of commitments to understand and contribute to structural change, upending the dependence on fossil energy that pervades our societies.<\/p>\n Personal action and structural change are linked in their minds.\u00a0Laura Tozer<\/a>\u00a0from the University of Toronto mentioned how important it was for her to \u201cfocus on choices I can make that others can as well. Trying to cut fossil fuels out of one\u2019s life gives great insight into the structural changes that are necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, this group reminds us that individual actions are\u00a0enmeshed in webs of larger networks and forces<\/a>. In this vein, Brazilian scholar\u00a0Veronica Goncalves<\/a>\u00a0remarked on a frequent refrain \u2014 the importance of collective experience and organizing; empowering communities and people in response to climate change.<\/p>\n Such connections need more than\u00a0fear or despair<\/a>\u00a0to thrive. As the University of Toronto\u2019s\u00a0Kate Neville<\/a>\u00a0emphasized: While the\u00a0climate scientists are despairing<\/em>\u00a0genre of articles is problematic, it captures an important aspect of the reality of the climate crisis. Humanity is moving too slowly.<\/p>\n Navigating this crisis, however, means not only generating urgency, but also finding\u00a0outlets for that urgency<\/a>. It entails understanding and pursuing an equitable low-carbon future. Here is where climate social scientists can help.<\/p>\nMixed feelings<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u201cThere\u2019s empowerment in the process of working on this regardless of the outcome. We don\u2019t know if our efforts are enough, but we know that if we don\u2019t try at all, nothing will change.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nPromoting alternatives<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m worried about what the climate crisis will do to already contested politics in a world with so much injustice and inequality. There is opportunity [if] we are actually all in this together, but the status quo will fight back tooth and nail.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nDay to day<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u201cSeeking joy, connection and community is a crucial part of collective action \u2013 the climate-stable, ecologically-vibrant future needs to have space to be imagined as a joyful one, not an apocalyptic one, even though we know there is strife and grief and loss and upheaval.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nWhat now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n