Archives:

Earth Matters : Facing the ‘age of humans’: Should a new epoch, the Anthropocene, be initiated to reflect human impact on Earth?

By Tom Litwin

As I concentrated on the computer screen, the news played in the background. A story about the environment got my attention, causing me to sit back and listen more carefully. I played the piece again to be sure I heard it correctly. In summer 2023, the earth experienced the hottest temperatures in recorded history. There had been months of reporting — record heat, drought, mega-fires, floods, extreme storms — so this wasn’t breaking news. What was unsettling was United Nations Secretary-General António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres’ alarming tone: “Our planet isn’t just warming, it’s boiling. We’re in the midst of a climate collapse … Climate breakdown has begun.” Career diplomats are typically staid, measured and understated. His comments were not that; he meant to be alarming.

Published on January 26, 2024.

: Hitchcock Climate Action Series: Fireside Chat

Season 1: Coming Together in the Face of Climate Change: Laying the Groundwork by Building Hope, Practicing Action, and Improving Communication Please join us as we launch a new program […]

Published on November 3, 2022.

: Hitchcock Climate Action Series: Community Forum

Hitchcock Climate Action Series Community Forum: Improving Communication: Deliberative Dialogue Thursday, December 8, 5:30pm Arrival & Snacks 6pm – 8pm Forum – Net Zero: How Do We Get There? Join in a […]

Published on November 3, 2022.

: Hitchcock Climate Action Series: Workshop

Hitchcock Climate Action Series: Workshop Season 1: Coming Together in the Face of Climate Change: Laying the Groundwork by Building Hope, Practicing Action, and Improving Communication Please join us as […]

Published on November 3, 2022.

Earth Matters : English farmer takes journey back to older, deeper ways

By Michael Dover

The failure of some food systems has been cited for the decline and fall of some major civilizations. Today, we face a different kind of challenge to our food systems: the globalization of our food supply (and its breakdowns) and the effects of industrial-scale farming on a vast scale across the globe. “Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey,” by James Rebanks is a personal story about the changes on an English hill farm over the last half-century. It’s a microcosm of what has happened in agriculture since the end of World War II.

Published on August 5, 2022.

Earth Matters : Role-playing games, storytelling and the fate of the earth

By Monya Relles

The role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) first gained popularity in the late 1970s and is now enjoying a resurgence. For the unfamiliar, players go on a series of quests to kill bad guys, get more powerful and collect treasure along the way. It’s a form of collaborative storytelling and I know many people use it as a tool to build and maintain community. So what could that possibly have to do with Earth Matters?

Published on July 22, 2022.

Earth Matters : Changing the conversation on climate change

By Billy Spitzer For the Gazette February 4, 2022 A few years ago, I watched a fascinating series of interviews with Apollo astronauts as they talked about first seeing the […]

Published on February 4, 2022.

Earth Matters : Hope, joy and the climate crisis

By Monya Relles For the Gazette January 21, 2022 At a meeting of the Western Massachusetts Youth Climate Summit team last summer, Clover Hogan, executive director of the group Force […]

Published on January 21, 2022.

Earth Matters : ‘Saving Us’: A cry for hope on climate

By Michael Dover

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson’s Science Advisory Panel reported to him on the risks posed by rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, which Johnson included in an address to Congress. Decades later, the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive climate policy and strategy. The country is arguably more polarized than it was during the Vietnam War, and climate action is caught up in that divide. Given this history, anyone could be forgiven for giving up hope. But climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University sees the world differently. Born in 1972 — seven years after Johnson’s speech — and raised as an evangelical Christian, Hayhoe is the epitome of hope. Don’t call it optimism — she’s as realistic as they come when she tells us what’s in store if we don’t act to curb greenhouse gas emissions — but both her faith and her experience in talking to a wide diversity of people give her hope that humanity can meet this challenge.

Published on October 29, 2021.