While the planet has always fluctuated in temperature, climate change due to human activity is causing rapid and extreme change. Fossil fuels burned to produce energy release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of many greenhouse gasses, molecules that trap the sun’s heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. A blanket of some greenhouse gasses is why the Earth is a livable temperature instead of being frozen, but too dense a layer of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere is causing global-scale warming and dangerous storm patterns. It is like adding more layers to the blanket. As the emissions of greenhouse gasses continues and these gasses build up in higher and higher concentrations, ice which has kept water frozen, in some cases for tens of thousands of years, is melting and slipping back into the sea, rising sea levels around the world. 

The nations, cultures, and peoples who have contributed least to the cause of climate change are already suffering most from its impacts and dangers, in the form of monster storms, deadly heat waves, spreading disease, and rising seas. As sea levels rise and people face the great social and environmental justice challenges presented by climate change, we are called to act. The margin for error is small when lives are at risk. And so we must move into these choices armed with the fullest knowledge we can gather from the past. As spaces are lost, we also act to save what we can. 

Heritage is not only tied to places and objects, but it is carried in stories and memory, shared in culture, and passed between people. Throughout the world, oppressed people’s histories, stories, and cultures have been silenced. It is urgent work to respectfully seek and bring these stories to safe light, restored to living generations and carried forward into the future. Stories help people relate to one another, preserve key elements of our histories and cultures, connect us to our ancestors, and help us navigate through a changing world.