From a distance, the Earth looks blue and green

And the snow capped mountains so white

The opening lyrics from “From a distance” written in 1985 by Julie Gold and covered by Bette Midler in 1990

Vivid image isn’t it? Beautiful, peaceful. I love that song.

What image do you see if you hear “climate crisis”? Anything? How do you explain climate crisis to someone? (before their eyes glaze over).

How should we talk about climate change?

I watched a TED talk on Youtube yesterday by John Marshall “3 strategies for effectively talking about climate change.“

It asks “which sounds more urgent “global warming” or “pollution blanket overheating planet”?”

The video stood my whole thinking about conversations about climate change on its head. Listen to it. It is under 8 minutes – less than the time it takes to boil the kettle, warm the pot and let the tea stew. Honestly, by the time you have poured yourself a cuppa you’ll be trying to work out how you make your next conversation about climate change more meaningful.

Have you heard of COUNTDOWN?

This talk is part of Countdown. Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis.

The Countdown goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world – a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up.

“Countdown seeks to answer five fundamental, interconnected questions that help inform a blueprint for a cleaner future: Energy, Transport, Materials, Food and Nature

We are bringing together scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, farmers, CEOs, investors, artists, government officials, and others to find the most effective, evidence-based ideas out there. Our goal is to identify the bold solutions that can be activated when people break out of their silos and rise to the challenge.”

Countdown launched on 10 October 2020 as a virtual conference and will host a summit in October 2021 in Edinburgh ahead of the COP26 meeting (November 2021, Glasgow). Everyone can get involved at Protect What you Love – Count us in (Count-us-in.org). There are new talks added regularly on climate solutions. If you have time to find out more go to countdown.ted.com.