Rewriting the future by addressing climate change

This year saw more tropical systems in the Atlantic than any other year, and the 2020 wildfire season out West has been the worst on record. Those are symptoms of a larger issue, according to the latest episode of the On Good Authority podcast, which featured Jesse Keenan, associate professor and social scientist at Tulane University School of Architecture.

There is no aspect of our lives that climate change doesn’t affect: food prices, food and water availability, the cost of goods, mortgage access, even the capacity to build long-term wealth through investments, Keenan said.

Nor is it realistic to assume or expect that we can protect all aspects of life as we currently know it, or that we just need to develop or exercise more resilience, he added.

If that sounds depressing, there’s still reason for optimism. Keenan points to history: Over the course of time, humans have had to adapt to changing environmental conditions to ensure their survival. So adaptation is really nothing new for humans.

To hear more of Keenan’s insights on climate change and how communities can address it, listen to the episode at https://tulane.edu/on-good-authority/episode-8-climate-change-resilience-is-not-enough.

Read the full story from Tulane University here.