American tech columnist, writer and TV presenter, whose latest book How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos provides practical guide to adapting to the climate change, had a conversation with Earth.Org on March 11. During the interview, David Pogue talked about the imminent risks that our planet is facing, and in what ways our lifestyle should change to mitigate those risks.
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David shared his thoughts with us on several topics, including:
- How should human race adapt to climate change.
- The adverse impacts of climate change, including some places becoming unbearably too hot to live, death of species and corals due to ocean acidification, and some cities become uninsurable as a result of more frequent hurricanes.
- How should parents explain and engage their children with issues of climate change.
- How does the disruption to food production impact us and what are the potential solutions to food scarcity.
- Whether we can get ourselves out of this mess and does hope still exist
In the opening chapter of the book, David quotes John Holdren who said, “We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is – what is the mix going to be.” David adds that the entire book is in fact, dedicated to the second part: adaptation. Although no one talks about it. He urges people to be aware of what we can do as an individual, as we need to initiate small steps in order to protect ourselves. He gathers the thoughts of 55 experts and covers a comprehensive list of conceivable adaption topics ranging from where to invest, what to grow in your garden, and how to survive in hurricanes.
As a parent to three kids, David devotes a section in the book discussing what parents should do to prepare their children for climate change. Instead of shielding all those negative news, he advocates a more positive and proactive approach by delivery the truth in an age-appropriate way and letting their children know they are always under the protection of their parents. David reiterates that, “you don’t need to hide and minimise it.”
Despite the enormous threats that we are facing, including food scarcity, ocean acidification, global warming, David remains optimistic in the sense that many people are changing their lifestyles and adopting new corporate goals. With rapidly changing minds, there is a lot of progress leading to hope and positive outcomes. “The situation with climate change is much worse than one imagines, but much better than anybody thinks”. Although the transition is going to be very painful, this is the only way to guarantee survival of species.
You can check out the full length video of Earth.Org ‘s conversation with David Pogue below:
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