This short work of science fiction, read by the author Kim Stanley Robinson, imagines a future where humanity has made international systemic changes to halt climate change.
This future society of 2071 has reprioritized the economy, allowing people, companies, and governments to earn money by capturing carbon from the atmosphere or by keeping carbon from getting released.
Robinson stresses the importance of interdisciplinary and global teamwork.
Teaching Tips
Positives
A transcript of the video is available in 15 languages.
The sources Robinson used are posted below the video.
While Robinson does not veer away from the complexity and danger of the current climate situation, he ultimately has a hopeful message about climate change.
Kim Stanley Robinson has authored many books, including the dystopian climate novel Ministry for the Future.
Differentiation
Robinson lists many solutions for reducing carbon in the atmosphere, which students could research and present to the class.
Civics, government, and social studies classes could debate the feasibility of the international solution that Robinson presents.
English classes could use this piece to inspire their own science fiction short stories about climate change.
Scientist Notes
This 10-minute TED talk envisions a possible future in which humans have substantially addressed climate change from the viewpoint of a look back from the year 2071. This is a version of the story from the recent science fiction novel The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. This resource is an excellent example of envisioning the future through thought experiments and is a great way to start discussions of Earth's future. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-2 Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
ETS1: Engineering Design
HS-ETS1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.11.9-12 Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
D2.Civ.14.9-12 Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
D2.Civ.3.9-12 Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.
D2.Civ.6.9-12 Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.12.9-12 Evaluate the selection of monetary and fiscal policies in a variety of economic conditions.
D2.Eco.15.9-12 Explain how current globalization trends and policies affect economic growth, labor markets, rights of citizens, the environment, and resource and income distribution in different nations.
D2.Eco.8.9-12 Describe the possible consequences, both intended and unintended, of government policies to improve market outcomes.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.6.9-12 Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Literature (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
