Photo courtesy of COP 28 UAE

Trepidations. Like on the Christmas eves of my childhood. The sense that something good is coming. Or not. That tomorrow will bring proof that I have been heard and seen. Or not. That joy – beautiful, unbridled joy– is within reach.

Until reality sets in again.

But not today. Not yet. Today, on the eve of the United Nations’ 28th Conference of the Parties, I can dream big dreams. Today, there is still the possibility that something good is coming. That when we wake up tomorrow, we will all finally feel like we have been heard and seen.

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 43

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

It was a day like any other day. Nothing special. I went to see a show in the evening. It was a warm November night so I took off my jacket but didn’t think much of it – we’re used to this by now. On my way home a few hours later, with sounds of crackling glaciers from the performance still resonating in my ears, it was still too warm for the jacket. I only found out about a week later: November 17, 2023 was the first day in which the global temperature exceeded 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Here we are.

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 42

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Superfog
Earthen rivers
Debris flow

As the climate gets weirder and weirder, and extreme weather events combine to create even more extreme weather events, we are forced to get creative with language. The new terms are frighteningly evocative: it’s not hard to imagine the zero visibility-ness of a superfog, the sudden and destructive power of an earthen river, or how one should avoid standing in the path of debris flow. This is almost sci-fi territory – language dreamed up by a writer hoping to capture the essence of an alien reality. Except it’s not. It’s all too real.

See Vocabulary – Part I

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 41