CREATIVE ADVENTURES — 60

Imagine You Are Living With Climate Change

This exercise does not actually require imagination: We are already living with climate change.

Elon Musk says: “We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.” The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen to record levels. Like a blanket, these greenhouse gases are holding the heat in. The atmosphere now holds in more heat than it has for thousands of years. This causes extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and heatwaves.

• We have entered the age of fire, the Pyrocene.
• Global air temperatures have already gone up about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century.
• The past five years have been the warmest five years in centuries.
• We are witnessing hundreds of dangerous and destabilizing wildfires everywhere.
• Temperatures in summer have hit 45 degrees Celsius in France and parts of Europe.
• Ecosystems are in danger, the glaciers are melting, future generations will not be able to see the ice in the Arctic.
• We are entering a dangerous era where the Earth is running the risk of becoming uninhabitable.
• This will be a world of famine, droughts, floods, hurricanes, heat stress, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, warming oceans, poor air quality, new diseases, and economic collapse.
• Every day, we are moving closer to a sixth mass extinction event.

In the words of Greta Thunberg: “Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope, but I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”

Please respond to the following prompts:

1. Climate change is the most crucial and urgent global issue we face in the next few decades, and it will probably get worse. Climate change is the most urgent threat facing our species. We are leaving future generations a chaotic world that is torn apart and burning in wildfires. First, think of 10 small solutions and practical ideas that will address climate change. Second, think of 10 big ideas (such as social innovations and technological innovations) on how to solve this problem in the long run.
2. Imagine that the year is 2025. You are in charge of an NGO that aims to increase public awareness about climate change. Think of advertising campaigns that will touch the minds and hearts of world citizens. Perhaps you can ask them what they can do in their own lives to make a difference (such as tracking your carbon footprint, going carbon-neutral, shifting to renewable energy sources and energy-efficient appliances, reducing waste, planting trees, consuming less energy, using electric cars, and reducing air travel). Design an effective advertising campaign using your creativity.
3. Imagine that the year is 2030. Write a story about a teenager who experiences intense climate anxiety, joins the Extinction Rebellion movement, and creates positive change. You might apply the hero’s journey framework to structure your story.
4. Imagine that the year is 2035. Climate change events have now become unavoidable, wreaking havoc on ecosystems, humans, animals, and communities. Write a story about what it means to live and survive as a human being in this new age.
5. Imagine that the year is 2045. Due to climate change, wildfires have engulfed the large majority of living land in your country. Your hero is a farmer and environmentalist who is about to create a solution that will prevent wildfires. What could be this solution? Create alternative ideas and scenarios. What happens next?
6. Imagine that the year is 2060. As wildfires get bigger and land becomes uninhabitable, a group of people is boarding a ship that is set for a new settlement. This settlement is under the oceans, but it is not open to the wider public. Only billionaires are accepted in this exclusive community. What happens when our heroes arrive at this settlement? Continue the story.
7. “The Ministry for the Future” is a science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is a bold vision of climate change unlike anything ever imagined. Set in the near future, a new organization defends the rights of the world’s future generations of citizens. Established in 2025, the purpose of “The Ministry for the Future” is to advocate for the world’s future generations and protect all living creatures. Drawing inspiration from this novel, write a story on how humans will cope with climate change during the 2050s.
8. The year is 2090. As the planet becomes hostile and uninhabitable, the largest space initiative to send masses of humans to Mars is accelerated. You are on one of these spaceships headed to Mars. What happens next? Create a science fiction story.

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.