Given what you know about Climate Change, how do you imagine it will impact your future? What gives you cause for hope?

Impact Lab 3. Week 12 Reflection.

I’ve already seen first hand some of the ways Climate Change will impact my future.

Black Summer bushfires visiting my family on the South Coast of New South Wales 2019/2020

I imagine access to fresh produce could be more difficult with worsening growing conditions, less water, more storms and bushfires etc. Access to natural fibres for textiles may become difficult for the same reasons, but at least that might slow our consumption and refocus attention to a circular economy.

Coming from a small, rural coastal town that has recently experienced bad bushfires, I imagine many of my family and friends will find their homes uninsurable and the cost of living will rise. My own current home may need building access via kayak during storm surges. I imagine one impact will be a greater need for all of us to increase our skills around emergency preparedness. Perhaps we’ll have to get in the habit of having emergency go bags like they do in Japan for earthquakes.

Worsening heat and UV exposure levels could see us spending a lot more time indoors. Limits to carbon emissions could see me traveling far less than I would like. Increases in bushfires will probably mean my asthma will get worse and be another contributor to spending less time outside.

In worst case scenarios as access to drinking water and loss of home and habitat increases we could see huge global population shifts and very possibly war in our lifetimes. A terrifying thought given the technology for destruction now available.

Studying design and learning to be resilient gives me hope. I wonder, will the way I grow things now be possible in the climate of 2050?

What gives me hope… studying design? Knowing that the problem solving skills I am developing now will be valuable in any future scenario. Knowing that there are people working to lessen the impacts. Knowing that through practicing permaculture: learning to grow food, retrofit and repair I’m building skills that will build resilience. Knowing that people are slowly, so slowly, becoming aware of the urgency of taking action and are starting to think about how their actions could have an impact. I guess one positive impact is I’ll have plenty to work on given I want to go into research around sustainability and climate change.