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school one recent morning, my hus-
band spotted a skunk lying limp on the
side of the road. Yet another roadkill,
we thought. But on the way back, he
noticed it was still alive. It was a work-
day, we both had places to go, deadlines
to deal with. But after a brief moment
of hesitation, we stopped and walked
over to the furry creature.
Wary of being sprayed, I crouched
two feet from the skunk while my
husband raced home to grab some
moving blankets and a box. I couldn’t
see any surface injuries but it was
shivering uncontrollably and its eyes
were gummed shut. It wasn’t hurt, but
was clearly, miserably, miserably sick.
I sat there knowing in my heart that
its chances of survival were dim, but
also knowing that I wouldn’t be able to
live with myself if didn’t at least try to
get it some help.
At the wildlife hospital we carried
it to, the medics took one look and
diagnosed canine distemper, a fatal
disease with no known cure, this viral
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carnivores including dogs, cats, skunks,
foxes, and raccoons. The skunk would
likely have to be put down, they said
as they whisked it away. That was that.
One more life gone.
The incident left me saddened. But
it also has me pondering how we tend
to react so promptly to harms that are
clearly visible, that seem treatable, like
the skunk’s illness, versus ones that we
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many direly, but that aren’t quite as
in-your-face.
The slow sickening of our entire
biosphere as the world warms surely
falls into the latter category.
All of us are feeling the impacts of
climate change at some level by now.Just in this issue we have a dispatch
from Sri Lanka that shows how in
poorer, developing nations, increasingly
unpredictable rainfall is breaking up
families (“Hollowed Lands,” page 45).
And a cover story from California
that highlights how ocean warming is
making it harder for already struggling
species, like several native abalone, to
pull back from the brink (“Holding Fast,
or Failing,” page 18). And a feature
about the Nilgiri Mountains of India
where warmer weather is complicating
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ecosystem (“An Uphill Task,” page 26).
The full list of climate impacts
is depressingly long, but because of
their slow onset, and because direct
connections are hard to establish, even
when we learn about them it doesn’t
spark a sense of urgency in most of
us. However, as Kate Olson describes
in “Dis-ease” (page 50), in many of
us these changes do cause “a shift” in
the gut, “an awareness deep down that
something is not right.”
It’s easy enough to push that
uncomfortable feeling the to back of
our minds as we rush about our daily
business of living, loving, and making
ends meet. And when we do pay
attention, the scale of the problem
seems overwhelming. Here’s the thing
though — unlike that poor skunk, the
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recovering. But only if we stop to help.
That help doesn’t have to be some
grand gesture. As social anthropologist
Helena Norberg-Hodge says in
Conversation (page 41), “start small and
local. It’s a wonderful entry point into a
multipronged and mutually reinforcing
path to health and happiness.”from the editorEDITOR
Maureen Nandini Mitra
[email protected]
MANAGING EDITOR
Zoe Loftus-Farren
[email protected]
COPY EDITOR
Catherine Carlstroem
ART DIRECTOR
Lilli Keinaenen
[email protected]COVER ILLUSTRATION
White Abalone Shell,
Dominick Leskiw
EDITOR EMERITUS
Gar SmithSUBSCRIPTION is a benefit of
membership in Earth Island
Institute. Send $25.00 US to:
Earth Island Institute
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AND ADDRESS CHANGES:
Kim Picone
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510-859-© Earth Island Institute. All rights reserved.
Contact editor for reprint information. Earth
Island Journal (ISSN 1041-0406) is published
quarterly by the nonprofit Earth Island Institute.
Earth Island Journal is printed on Envirographic™
(100% post-consumer waste, process chlorine
free, FSC and SFI-certified). The cover
is printed on Reincarnation Matte (100%
recycled, 50% post-consumer waste, process
chlorine free; ancient forest friendly).No Grand Gestures Necessary