Before taking this class I had very minimal knowledge and awareness on the subject of climate change/global warming. After doing a couple of the assigned readings and hearing discussions in class I have come to the realization, like many of my other classmates, that climate change is real, it’s happening now as I sit and write this post, and it’s effects are tragic resulting in immeasurable calamities. Water and food shortages, lack of social services, diseases, floods, and droughts are just a few calamities that come to mind. Before, when I would hear or read discourse on global warming and climate change I would blow it off my shoulder, thinking that other people in higher positions of power have it under control.
After reading more extensively and learning about the topic during the past couple of weeks, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I have gained a newfound passion towards preventing climate change and it’s extremely harmful and life threatening effects. In the short story Diary of an Interesting Year, the author Helen Simpson writes a fictional narrative that illustrates the destruction of planet Earth due to climate change.
The narrator conveys her story in first person using the format of a diary. Using a diary to share her story and phrasing her thoughts in sentences that are considered normal dialogue makes it more of a personal and intimate experience with the audience which I personally find to be more interesting as a reader. I find this style of writing to be relatable and helpful in trying to bring your perspectives and points to light. I also believe that conveying a story in this particular format is informative, especially a story with such a serious issue as its main backdrop. Throughout the story there are many parts which describe the drastic effects of climate change on human life such as; untreatable diseases due to lack of social services (102), unhealthy and polluted air (102), rationing food as a result of a permanent shortage (103), lack of water (103), and deaths (107).
Helen Simpson was successful in her attempt to to inform the readers about the serious life changing events that can and most likely will take place due to global warming. The calamities that she writes about definitely put things in perspective for me and showed me that if I don’t try to take some form of action against climate change, then one day very soon, I will also end up like the narrator in Diary of an Interesting Year.
Another source that widened my understanding of climate change and its current effects is the climate stories project website. This website covers a numerous amount of in-depth and extremely personal stories from various locations around the world. A particular story that caught my attention was of a woman named Efleda Bautista, residing in Tacloban City, Phillipines. Her story discusses the aftereffects of Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Phillipines in early November of 2013. Some of the harrowing outcomes on her community and around other areas of the Phillipines were, “long droughts and flooding that never happened before” (Climatestoriesproject.com). She also states that an equivalence of a month’s worth of rain would instead fall in one or two days flooding the city even further. Efleda believes that Typhoon Haiyan is closely connected to climate change and is devastated that it can produce such a series of calamitious events. Post typhoon Haiyan, she is working on preventive action to help raise awareness on the issues of climate change and developing potential measures of activity.
Reading personal stories like Efleda’s and short stories such as Diary of an Interesting Year was a huge reality check for me and awakened a desire to make concrete and consistent changes to the environment and communities around me. I sincerely hope that one day very soon, more individuals around the world are informed on the harmful effects of climate change and find courage to make a difference.
I also was affected by Diary of an Interesting Year on a more personal level. The fact that it was first person made everything seem more real and struck my emotions more directly. Also seeing the trauma that the main character, who just a sixteen year old girl, had to go through made me realize that our society needs to change. How will our actions now effect two generations from now? I don’t want my grandchildren to have to suffer from our mistakes. Something needs to change and fast.
I really liked your take on the story and how it connects with our world today. I also related to the story due to it’s perspective from a woman in an apocalyptic world. I also like how you drew on other calamities in our world such as the Philippine woman’s story. It really makes you appreciate the climate we live in and gives all the more reason to save our planet so no one else has to suffer through natural disasters.
Shinal — your post draws some interesting parallels between the fictional story “A Diary of an Interesting Year” and the Climate Stories Project (which is a project I’m involved in and particularly passionate about). I agree with you that “personal stories,” whether they are first person accounts of what is already happening with climate change or fictional speculations of what might happen in the future, can be the best “reality check” and can even spur people to make changes in their own lives. Thanks for posting!