Introduction

Writing about the threat of nuclear catastrophe in The Fate of the Earth, Jonathan Schell observed: “the act of thinking about it is always voluntary, and the choice of not thinking about it is always available.”1 The same can be said for most of us, most of the time, when it comes to the unthinkable of unchecked climate change. But the choice is not available to men and women whose work is to comprehend the radical dangers of climate change, and to act on what they know. For the authors in this issue of Dædalus -along with many other scientists, doctors, public health experts, social scientists, lawyers, journalists, business consultants, and military officers-climate change shapes their professional identity and expands their sense of responsibility. They find thinking about its many elements within strict disciplinary confines constraining, and the codes of professional ethics that govern day-to-day practice inadequate. The extraordinary challenges they confront require more. They push the bounds of their fields and they push themselves to become witnessing professionals.The term witnessing professionals is not part of common parlance. Yet we need a name for those who speak out from the vantage point of their specialized knowledge about the dangers posed by crises like climate change. In this volume, the authors reflect on their paths into climate work and bearing witness to what they know. Each focuses on a different aspect of climate change's effects and responses to it, so that this constellation of essays helps us grasp that climate change is not one single fearful thing. The familiar phrase obscures its many-sidedness. We may, as Carolyn Kormann writes in her contribution to this collection, “try to see the whole of the moon,” but we must also appreciate the innumerable, dynamic facets of climate change.2 Its devastation is pluralistic. It ravages the earth as we know it: Arctic ice, rain forests, islands, and reefs; health and habitats; economic systems and social arrangements; and for many people worldwide, it deranges everyday life. Climate change is all encompassing, and so is the domain of witnessing professionals.As I write (July 2020), professionals are speaking out about another global threat: a pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, a highly communicable virus causing disease, death, and massive social and economic dislocation. Epidemiologists and public health authorities track the path of the COVID-19 contagion and recommend policies and practices in an attempt to contain its spread. They document the nation's ongoing unpreparedness: inadequate supplies of tests for the virus and store of protective equipment, ventilators, and ICUs. They issue grim warnings about misinformation coming from government officials in the United States, beginning with the president, and they report the erratic, disorganized actions taken by inexperienced political appointees who head the very federal agencies charged with managing national emergencies. A trauma doctor spoke out in The New York Times: “The sky is falling. I'm not afraid to say it.”3 They become witnesses.The authors of “Witnessing Climate Change” address a global phenomenon that is slower moving than viral contamination and has no foreseeable end. We gather reflections from men and women immersed in the greatest problem of our time, perhaps of all time: the changing composition of the atmosphere that is altering the earth on a planetary scale. There is no historical model. We see the authors figuring out as they go along the meaning and value of their work, struggling with the necessity and the limits of the authority of expertise, building institutions to draw others into their fields, and finding ways to educate, advise, organize, advocate, and warn policy-makers and the public. Here are odysseys of careers and activism growing from specialized knowledge, by men and women contemplating what it means to respond ethically to this all-encompassing crisis. They speak mainly of experiences in the United States, but their reflections have universal application.The authors range in age from their thirties to nineties, and they took up climate work and began to speak out at different points in their careers and at different points in their professions’ commitment to understanding and action. Multi-generational witnessing adds a special dimension of interest: these accounts add up to a chronology of the evolution of knowledge about climate change from a small circle of scientists into myriad professional spheres and public arenas.Several themes unite these personal narratives: the path into climate-related work, the constraints imposed by standard codes of professional ethics and the imperative to move beyond them, and the settings and institutions they build to do what Elke Weber calls the “missionary work” of advancing our understanding and communicating widely what they know. They share the moral imperative to speak out, and they recount the challenges and especially the ethics of witnessing.Climate change's gathering effects occur slowly and vary from place to place; in contrast to intense public preoccupation with the frightening invisibility, disease, and death of the COVID-19 pandemic, attention to climate is fragmented and sporadic. Witnessing professionals to climate change have to arouse and then rearouse public awareness. They have to continuously decry inertia and shortsightedness. They struggle against the malignant duo of political opposition and political paralysis.Sustaining hope in the face of accelerating destruction is the emotional burden witnessing professionals assume. Despite advances in knowledge and organized political activism, mitigation is anemic. Targets are missed, greenhouse gas emissions are rising, and 2019 was the second-warmest year on record, in the warmest decade on record.4 In 2020, there were wildfires in the Arctic. Research is underfunded. International cooperation is brittle and intermittent. Entrenched obstacles, including impenetrable layers of legal and political jurisdiction, stymie local efforts at adaptation to protect against foreseeable climate-related disasters. Yet hope is elemental to witnessing. Despair is not just psychologically harmful but would be a “mistake.”5 And by continuing to expose and act upon painful truths witnesses can communicate a sense of hope.In April 2018, The New York Times published a story, “Climate Change Denialists Say Polar Bears Are Fine. Scientists Are Pushing Back.” Turning “the charismatic bears to their own uses,” deniers challenged scientific evidence of the physical decline of the polar bear population linked to the loss of Arctic sea ice. Rejection of the science of climate change and its effects was nothing new; what made headlines was that fourteen researchers resolved to expose this disinformation campaign. The deniers renewed their attempts to discredit them, calling the scientists’ response a hit piece by “climate bullies,” “smack talk,” and, ramping up their assault, an act of “academic rape.” They demanded a retraction. They filed Freedom of Information Act requests for three of the scientists’ correspondence and agitated for another, Jeffrey Harvey, to be reprimanded for “conduct unworthy of serious scientists.”The decision to speak out, Harvey explained, was precipitated by theIn publicly defending their calculations of the status of Arctic ice and polar bear populations, the scientists were making a larger point. Polar bears need sea ice; it's a question of habitat loss, “there's nothing more complicated than that.”7 They connected their research to the endangered habitats of virtually all life forms, including our own.These scientists defended the integrity and validity of their research and insisted on its significance. They pushed back against those who challenged not only their legitimate claim to specialized knowledge, but also its meaning and value for decision-makers and the public. As Jessica Green puts it, “If we don't clearly voice our views ... to counteract misinformation ... our knowledge will be irrelevant.”8Witnessing professionals are drawn into battle against climate rejecters and deniers and, at the same time, against the wider, wholesale delegitimation of knowledge-producing institutions and expertise. Assaults on the value and authority of specialized knowledge have become a familiar, degrading part of public life, and delegitimation of climate work is particularly ferocious in the United States and at the highest levels of government.It has multiple sources: fossil fuel industry disinformation campaigns to obstruct regulation of emissions, entrenched economic interests such as real estate developers hungry to build, and bad-faith accusations of partisan bias. Delegitimation also takes the form of wild conspiracy claims: the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) casts public health researchers as a cabal producing “secret science,” and advocates for regulation of greenhouse gas emissions are accused of plotting to impose despotic measures that extinguish personal freedom.9 As one advisor to President Trump charged, “They want to take your pickup truck, they want to rebuild your home, they want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamed about but never achieved.”10Speaking out as scientists of the Arctic did is the oppositional face of witnessing. There is also a constructive side: witnessing as education, and their professional vantage the authors attention to of climate change that are sea They do not themselves to They on the and to the They and and They and They build and in and They form fields and national Witnessing professionals on and scientific and They to government when the on to that and other greenhouse health effects and were within the authority to in 2019 from the a and of nuclear “The is that the of climate change ... is as as the threat of it's just at a that it for us to in the of our Yet witnessing professionals do just climate change adds a dimension to our moral The moral witness is a of so that it is the grim They what they and speak for those who They name and the people at whose they and that the be and They hope to their to the identity of and the of they can professionals are witnesses of this they do not the they to of and and organized and know that the they of what has work has moral and historical must be made and the that made it to and report when it comes to the effects of climate change, we are all and in we are all The is not to the to physical devastation and of climate the of and the that them, of and the of They are not of the is only a small of scientists climate change and its The point was the by of for the global is not a in climate but can be with a of to the of and other in the then climate change not be as the of measures to by means of from fossil For we have that of the of life that on from are calls the we to climate change just by what we do are into nothing in our is of change and and us to the extraordinary for takes its place mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions as a and moral more than and an It calls for massive in for and of to sea and measures to with the of many of from of the earth made by the legal available for local building and more. Yet speaking out about the need for adaptation is an aspect of that legal practice in this is than and it to no more than local but it will be an part of with the to also a and in our for a are climate are The climate is ... There is no not in the Elke Weber essays are an the authors reflect on their paths to witnessing. a witnessing professional The is a commitment to a professional and as these essays it takes a to professionals into the public Witnessing is not the authors their at the of their They began work they were to in familiar and in with and professional they from are an inadequate for the and moral challenges their work of social sense of against the of of professional and of professional that and They for and for and They the that with professional and They and work to their authority and their these institutions against the is an But professionals and many work in settings that do not to and They can do a in ethics in professional the and that it took a of to to to ethics “The ethics not only and but also in the of of the of professional has ... vary to the who practice and of is always the of a and can only this by its of professional ethics contain a and to is to the of standard the research on for and of and and of They what and not do with their specialized knowledge, and the into witnessing out against the of these The for of I a that in the have the and of but nothing about to public life from their professional with to the of to protect about climate change's on They also in to political For this the military its on climate effects on military and by and professional and education, and they and what are to address and for business climate change was an to but not to the and very it was not part of Jessica Green that when it comes to and and in political disciplinary and climate research and activism are out of professional can speaking the in to who were from the The focuses on by the larger climate and health whose did not face the same It its a voice and to their warnings about the effects of in their about the and political of that an understanding of local “The don't know that many people will not on an their and it is and Carolyn Kormann their experiences with professional that and to the of what as and are the from witnessing professionals and standard professional ethics an to bear health to for is a to report to the Witnessing professionals the to into an to the it to do science and it in The authors question the of ethics for standard practice when we require what in an The paths to witnessing the of the essays paths into witnessing a face and a For an into climate work and speaking we can of their commitment as a with a from when was I to do was to the The of a of in to in the of was by public health the of to to in a and of the the when to climate change were and was to Carolyn Kormann was in when about in a “The of a in a of with a and the path to speaking on a small in the most to was to the to protect the people of was by an report on the of and to In as the and of climate change were just beginning to within a small of scientists, took on the to the circle and move climate change into the political an to an for climate action. the to about making I made that was about it, to about it, so I about work as a on in her was with of climate change. the to address “the of our time: what at the of and the public health began to about climate change, an to a on the New York into of effects on at the age of the phrase in The Climate on and published in into the more than in the and and in the in opposition to nuclear calls nuclear and climate “the is with and but the authors us that knowledge and the authority to speak out require institutions to these institutions that of and to the of lawyers, scientists, and and to public The authors are and a of their another into the of climate change the for Climate Change the at on the bearing of climate on business Elke Weber the of the for to social science and the on Climate as a to climate in for the and the was the of the to climate change and the for Environmental and is with the on Climate and legal to this of are for legal that be to a legal status for climate for a legal for the of decision to the with as to government witnessing professionals move the of and they face a of and do they and for speaking interests are to and the of policy-makers and the of people on the what are and we have a of calls up that are not part of professional a and political in the It is with moral but to and coming to the that are one can say in public as an and as a and is and we must it at is not one of essays the challenges of is the most familiar face on the public of polar bears and with a are to be they can speak the of have the of but also the that with knowledge, and They struggle to communicate knowledge so that it is its and its for of policy-makers and of the the same can have on the that scientists of climate work are that of climate scientists in it against that no finding is and that is always a the same time, are to those who about climate science by that about emissions are a of climate for the public the of is an climate work not disciplinary to talk,” as puts it, is also a for with to comes the of fields, and Elke Weber the of of is the of in the Witnessing professionals must be the of a to to government of is a form of “If I to the and in who would to a who ... But in a of the can be Carolyn Kormann expands the of to on climate change require not just understanding and the but understanding the of a the that a about would always be to a and a they would in a be is no single for specialized must the and the is there one of and action. In The Earth, that no is to As it, the report from the on Climate Change form of of to the to as they authors reflect on the challenges of speaking of these are to witnessing and on the imperative to protect the authority of specialized the of the to the knowledge that is the of their authority to to this is to the of and They the of and They are of the that of activism their as by about their For that is the very of can their authority by climate scientists to build political that on one and of on the for research to the of the earth to and to the of with into this But professionals can also as witnesses by and Jessica Green against the to activism and to only are in a for our This takes our ... We need to a we must be about what our we we is one witnessing professionals have accused of just by for They are to be as as The authors do not this for and their witnessing takes the form of for and against It is a different they policies that their own of expertise. that beyond the bounds of their own work, is not professionals for specialized knowledge by to in other beyond the to protect the value and authority of specialized A of moral is not to professionals and the authors take on these challenges as moral in attention to to climate change the of that the earth and and social and In all there is the imperative to and of and in and Jessica and speak to the and question of within and and professionals with another aspect of public officials and others in a to address climate change and its and to take they are of and calling to is part of witnessing. who on the and its can be as The for witnessing professionals is to appreciate of the same time, they must take that and do not the constructive of education, and question of means and its own of means are in of climate and of be Elke Weber is a to research on the that obstruct thinking about the term and in her is as as is us to question professionals knowledge in and know that can be professionals Weber that is only people are to that emotional for In to attention to climate change time, must be with are many such to an issue is in for the “climate and are as partisan and advocates for is by this in and are in to when is it is to many of climate is to the of into the be to to an about the of Arctic ice can be to about the of polar authors take on these For many they are and to into the public that scientists in are to speak out, and an for their sense of social is more than in the of It to their and its so that the of witnessing. this “the to be to that they as the are to and to the of calls this for climate change also confront political is the and expertise. about ... but political Witnessing is imperative professionals share for to the climate with other the authority of specialized knowledge with for political is a and their political have to when to the authority of is can be to be of and to There are for of expertise, is is in the of climate change by the of responses and partisan dimension of is to public of It the to just in specialized knowledge is to and, at the same time, calls on professionals to with to what they don't know. They publicly for and the for and can our ... and hope to move But the the can Witnessing at moving and action. As Jessica Green points out, must that is not a for The to a of education, and reflect their of to to climate action. are in their thinking about the political dynamic of climate will it from an of political and professional by national from legal by And who will these the dynamic of constructive political from the including by people who with that “the is not by our but from our the to political from and of is the path more from a of and social to the of of political professionals as they essays that no political dynamic can be is our moral witnessing not is political as a ... of in a but it is Witnessing is at and life at the for adaptation and and at actions with hope and these Witnessing personal The scientists who and pushed back against deniers of the decline of the Arctic polar bear population were not from their but the have an in it is to your health to up climate in Climate witnesses on their and loss of and was the of a professionals also bear the emotional and of their and warnings evidence of have As one whose is to it, are all these we know that they the Dædalus authors They a is but is not is Environmental for to the a not a one and Carolyn is “The Elke Weber practices what calls the for as a for “the the and the on climate change the of the of of Its on the of and The in our is I be Yet I'm ... We at at us in the about climate change. is that As climate it is always in the and in never is massive It is also a of what is takes of the most of us, climate change as a whole and the fearful it are beyond essays us They us grasp the of climate change and its the the the business the and policies and political actions that are within Witnessing professionals us to about and beyond the

Environmental ethics · Political science · Sociology · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Philosophy · Risk Perception and Management

• Strength out of weakness

  Open Access•Sebastián Ureta, Javiera Barandiarán et al.•Elementa Science of the…•2023

  Incluir item