Charlie Gottlieb returns from the woods with the Black Lantern in hand and offers another installation of his twelve-month blog series chronicling one trip into the backcountry each month over the next year in which he recounts stories of his adventures, reflects on their impact on his thoughts about nature, and shares some photographs. For the previous installment, click here.
Adaptation is common in nature; ecosystems routinely change in response to all manner of environmental factors. From this commonality, many argue adaptation is a natural response-strategy for human beings to handle recent changes in environmental conditions. This was the philosophical topic that my groups of friends discussed on our December campout in the Adirondacks in northern New York.
The imagery that sparked this philosophical and practical discussion was that of a lake, frozen by cold temperatures over one night. As we went to sleep at the end of our first day, the lake rippled in the breeze, free from ice or snow. The temperatures dropped rapidly in the dark from around freezing to five below zero. We woke to the sun rising over a frozen lake. My camping partner looked at me, still half asleep, and said: “Well, winter came overnight. Hope you’re ready!” It was amazing. We sat on the edge of a cliff astounded that the entire lake froze so quickly. We were freezing, yet there we all sat after a long and extremely cold night.
As the short day turned again to night, we stood around the campfire and began to discuss the legal and policy issues that the world is dealing with to address climate change. The debate has become two sided: try to stop climate change or accept its occurrence and adapt. Recently, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and has come out with a climate change adaptability report. This report discusses what New York must do to adapt to climate change including considerations of public health, water, energy, communications, costal zones, ecosystems, transportation and agriculture. New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection has issued a similar report.
As an environmental advocate I have always looked at these reports as admitting defeat. We failed at stopping climate change and therefore we have to adapt. I have come to realize that this is not the case. We can still fight climate change by lowering our carbon emissions while at the same time adapting as best we can and preparing to handle its effects. On the last night of our campout we could not stop the cold, but we were able to adapt and have another great experience in the backcountry. We’ll need that sort of positivity and adaptability to fast changes going forward.
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