Kirkwood 1

Ash Kirkwood

Professor Malcolm Campbell

WRDS 1104

22 March 2022

Look To The Sky: Earth's Warming Atmosphere and What Writers Are Doing About It

  The first time I really considered the gravity of climate change was when I watched a

documentary called “Before the Flood”, a film by Leonardo DiCaprio and Fisher Stevens and

produced by National Geographic. After I watched it for the first time, I watched it probably

twenty more times over the next couple of weeks. I would sit captivated in front of the screen,

gasping at every new terrible and shocking revelation, even though I could almost quote the

documentary towards the end. It was surprising and powerful, and I wondered why more people

weren’t talking about it. Yes, there were documentaries and docuseries and movies but nobody

my age was going to watch those. It needed to be in writing, in the news, in books. It needed to

be talked about in some way that everyone would be able to see so that everyone would be

concerned and want to change things. 

            While most scientists today believe in climate change and that it is man-made, there is

still debate within the general population. Most of the doubt around climate change comes from

misinformation online because the shouting of this misinformation covers the whispers of the

cold hard facts on climate change. 

            Climate writing can promote the use of renewable energy sources and can help reduce the

negative effects of climate change by informing the general population. By writing about climate
 Kirkwood 2

change and renewable energy sources everyday people can start to learn about what exactly is

happening, how it came to be, and how we can work to reduce the effects of it. 

            Climate writing started in 1896 when Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted

climate change caused by atmospheric changes in carbon dioxide levels and the greenhouse

effect in his seminal paper. In 1938, Guy Callendar also connected carbon dioxide levels to

Earth’s atmospheric rise in temperature. Since then, there have been many peer-reviewed studies

that have proven 97 percent or more of climate scientists agree on one point. According to

NASA “Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human

activities.”

            Current scientific consensus greatly differs with the general population’s belief. This begs

the question; how can effective writing promote the use of renewable energy and help to reduce

the negative impacts of climate change? Other questions that come to mind are: How can writing

inform the public of effective ways to help the environment? How can research published by

clean energy countries, such as Iceland, inform other countries on a course of action?

            Before we continue with this line of inquiry, I want to define a few key terms. Climate

change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from

the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric

carbon dioxide produced using fossil fuels. Nonrenewable energy sources are a natural resource

that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with

consumption. Renewable energy sources are also known as a flow resource, a natural resource

which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through

natural reproduction or other recurring processes.

 Kirkwood 3

No one wants to see this planet further affected by the symptoms of climate change.

Already we are experiencing global temperature rise and extreme events which gives rise to

environmental changes in our water such as a warming ocean, rising sea levels, declining arctic

sea ice, ocean acidification and to our ice like shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, decreasing

snow cover. An increase of just a couple degrees over the last forty years has already caused all

of this and more. We need to read as much as we can on climate change and learn as much as we

can so that we can make efforts to fix this together. 

There are so many different ways that have been proven to reduce the negative effects of

climate change that are not so readily available to the public. These are often published in

government reports and peer-reviewed journals that most won’t take the time to read or don’t

have access to. Other sources, such as documentaries and docuseries make the information more

accessible, but they don’t get much attention. Look at the docuseries “Down to Earth with Zac

Efron”. In this series, Efron and his companion Darin Olien who is a an American Author and

Wellness Expert travel all over the world looking for more sustainable ways to live. In the first

episode, “Iceland” they explore the island and its natural resources, but there is only a short

section dedicated to the most important discovery they make. Efron and Olien visit a hydropower

station that created an innovative process to reduce carbon waste. At the power station, they

pump all carbon waste back into the ground, which prevents this waste from harming chemicals,

and even mineralizes to create Fool’s Gold and other materials. This process could be employed

everywhere, but not enough people know about it. This is where climate writing comes into play.

Climate communication is probably one of the most important fields there is today. In the

article “Why We Need Climate Writing Today More Than Ever” published by earthday.org they

say “Humans have never faced a dilemma as complicated as burning fossil fuels, a practice that
 Kirkwood 4

has uplifted humanity and destroyed it at the same time. We have never before been tasked with,

well, saving ourselves from an existential threat like climate change.” Climate writing is

important because it’s a way to bridge the gap between all the scientific and political jargon to

make information on climate change more accessible. However, there are lots of challenges for

climate writers, including deciphering the politics of it all and facing human stubbornness as

well. People are naturally very reluctant to change, which makes changing their minds on climate

change extra difficult.

Another huge issue related to climate change is online misinformation. In the peer-

reviewed journal “Online misinformation about climate change” they state “Authors claim that

misinformation about climate change has confused the public, led to political inaction, and

stalled support for or led to rejection of mitigation policies.”

Social media today has been flooded with misinformation concerning climate change that

discredit political officials and scientists, usually because of public disbelief. This

misinformation reaches others, which further causes denial in climate change. Political officials

end up denying climate change, and voting against decisions for action regarding climate change,

which further impedes progress. Denial around climate change also contributes to public

complacency. If the public isn’t concerned about climate change because of misinformation, then

the public can’t pressure political officials to make an important change.

One more problem with climate writing it that it’s becoming predictable. “Is Climate

Writing Stuck?” a media story by Heather Houser and published on lithub.com discusses several

micro conventions or “climate tics” that are making climate writing less effective. These include

the hopeful ending, the ecocide aside, and the catalog of despair. Each of these are common

endings in climate writing.

 Kirkwood 5

The hopeful ending is exactly what it sounds like. There is almost always some kind of

journey to make climate change known or save the Earth. It’s very tragic and difficult. At the end

though, there is always some kind of hope and a newfound respect for the endurance of the

Earth. This type of climate writing is very popular because it advocates for change, but it also

makes the situation seem less drastic which is a lot more appealing for most people.

Next, the ecocide aside is another convention that is less obvious. Most of the writings

with this climate tic are focused on topics other than climate change. Houser cites The Topeka

School by Ben Lerner in her story and how there is a comparison drawn between a memory of

the main character in the book and an offhand mention of the extinction of many species of

animals. This climate tic is less effective because it’s a more distant way of discussing climate

change compared to other forms of climate writing.

The last climate tic is the catalog of despair. Again, this convention is a little obvious. In

this type of climate writing there is lots of doom and gloom. Many works, including Hope in the

Dark by Rebecca Solnit use this climate writing convention. In her book, she writes “There is

tremendous devastation now. In the time it takes you to read this book, acres of rainforest will

vanish, a species will go extinct, people will be raped, killed, dispossessed, die of easily

preventable diseases.” As you can tell, these works detail climate collapse, mostly in an attempt

to almost scare people into caring about climate change. It’s a bit harsh, but effective in warning

people of the dangers of climate change.

The initial line of inquiry we started with was how can effective writing promote the use

of renewable energy and help to reduce the negative impacts of climate change? In this paper we

discussed the challenges climate writers faced and how they work to combat climate change. To

answer the question, effective writing helps to reduce the negative impacts of climate change by
 Kirkwood 6

warning people of the dangers of the climate crisis so that they can speak. Effective writing helps

to promote the use of renewable energy by informing the public and government officials of new

and innovative ways to combat climate change. In conclusion, effective climate writing is

informative and inspiring in the ongoing fight against climate change and for our planet.
 Kirkwood 7

Works Cited

Logadóttir, Halla Hrund. “Iceland's Sustainable Energy Story: A Model for the World?” United

Nations, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/icelands-sustainable-

energy-story-model-world. Accessed 8 Feb 2022.

DiCaprio , Leonardo, and Fisher Stevens. Before the Flood, National Geographic , 21 Oct. 2016,

https://www.beforetheflood.com/. Accessed 20 Mar 2022.

Efron, Zac, and Darin Olien. “Down to Earth with Zac Efron .” Season 1, episode 1, Netflix, 10

July 2020. 

Houser, Heather  January. “Is Climate Writing Stuck?” Literary Hub, Lithium.com, 4 Jan. 2022,

https://lithub.com/is-climate-writing-stuck/. Accessed 8 Feb 2022.

June 15, 2018 Lora Shinn. “Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts.” NRDC, NRDC.org, 28 Mar.

2022, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts. Accessed 8 Feb 2022.

“Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate Is Warming.” NASA, NASA, 18 Jan. 2022,

https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/. Accessed 22 Mar 2022.

Solnit, Rebecca. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Haymarket Books,

2016. 

Treen, Kathie M d'L., et al. “Online Misinformation about Climate ... - Wiley Online

Library.” Wires Online Library , WIREs Interdisciplinary Review , 18 June 2020,

https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.665. Accessed 8 Feb 2022.

 Kirkwood 8

“Why We Need Climate Writing Today More than Ever.” Earth Day, Earthy.org, 28 Jan. 2020,

https://www.earthday.org/why-we-need-good-climate-writing-today-more-than-ever/. Acc

essed 8 Feb 2022.