Climate Change: A Poetic Essay

For years we’ve studied climate change

And the scientific evidence range;

We know that change is certain now,

And we understand the why and the how.

We see that change is caused by man

And have stated this point as well as we can.

But some deny that change is here –

Some out of guilt, and some out of fear.

Some out of ignorance, some out of pride,

Some ignore proof from the opposite side.

Today we’ll examine why this is true

And if a solution can be thought through.

Let’s look at a few of the reasons why

Some who see the truth, but still deny,

Are propagating their erroneous belief,

Rather than finding a means of relief.

We know why some just follow the crowd:

They believe what they see and what’s spoken aloud.

A confirmation bias is all that they need:

They see what they want in the things that they read.

If a view is expressed by the opposite side,

They read it with bias, then toss it aside.

And should someone come and give fuel to their fears,

They hear one word amiss, and stop up their ears.

I think, too, some scientists sadly are caught

In result-focused research that really does not

Leave them room to consider an alternate view

From what they’re attempting to upkeep as true.

I think also that there are some out there who see

The evidence clearly, but happen to be

Caught in cognitive dissonance, so eager to fit

Their own social group, they still staunchly deny it.

Some love their positions of power so much

They are loath to give this up, and as such

They tend to avoid confronting such things

Through the fear of removal it usually brings.

Now to ignore our environment seems a poor way

To solve our problems, but sadly to say

Some again feel the need to neglect what is seen

In attempts to remain in their peer group’s esteem.

Our environment is such a part of our lives

Its character and feedback are really what drive

Our response to adapt to the changes in place –

We should take natural feedback and make that our base.

For without all this feedback we’d be without means

To know how to respond to the earth’s changing scenes.

I don’t quite understand how one can try

To make huge decisions without asking why.

But this is what happens when people ignore

The evidence that’s clearly laid out on the floor.

Our chance of resilience becomes rather slim

If we don’t heed the science, which is rather grim.

The interconnectedness surely is clear

Between us and the earth through the time that we’re here.

Our environment gives us the “data” you’d say

To adapt and cooperate every day.

If we try to ignore nature’s signals too long

And go on with our lives as though nothing is wrong,

We’ll soon find ourselves at the end of our rope

And regret our neglect; but by then there’s no hope.

Now to answer the critics is hard to do:

Their opinions are set, through and through.

They have seen the evidence and yet deny,

And we’ve seen that it’s not hard to understand why.

The science-illiterate are not the main crowd

That raises its voice and denies this aloud,

But rather the ones who are most intertwined

With the science, and have all the proof in their mind.

Thus science won’t work to alter their thinking,

No matter what warnings around them are blinking;

They’ve given themselves to social paradigm,

And hardly consider this change worth their time.

I believe that by bringing our core values out,

We can maybe begin to chip through the doubt.

The science might be there for both sides to hear

But I think understanding of views must be clear.

By showing that each of us has a “blind spot”

We all start to see that our values are not

Based so much on the science, but rather we choose

Our perspectives of science as seen through these views.

Thus I feel that an argument, based not on fact,

But on viewpoints and theories, might possibly act

As a catalyst showing this change as a truth

Versus something requiring science as proof.

In this poem I attempted to show you how strange

Is the very idea of ignoring climate change.

At the same time I showed you why some appear

To deny what to us seems so perfectly clear.

And finally here I proposed a solution

Which hopefully leads us to a firm conclusion:

Addressing the views which make both sides blind

Might be really the best way to change someone’s mind.

I hope you enjoyed this poetic creation,

Yet see it not just as a brief relaxation,

But rather a call to resolve misconceptions

That cloud your and others’ climate perceptions!