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A view of a portion of the University of Idaho golf course on April 21, 2021 ![]()
A rose bush sprouts new leaves toward the top of the University of Idaho Arboretum ![]()
Hosta pushes up out of the ground in the University of Idaho Arboretum ![]()
Cherry blossoms float around in the wind as the sun sinks behind them ![]()
A goose wanders around the University of Idaho Arboretum as its gosling munches on grass ![]()
Blooming flowers and new leaves shower the University of Idaho Arboretum’s canopy ![]()
A goose takes a rest next to a pond in the University of Idaho Arboretum ![]()
Forsythia trees are in full, sunny yellow bloom at the University of Idaho Arboretum
Think about how, lately, it seems like there are more wildfires in the West, and they keep getting tougher to put out. Winter seems to come later each year. A white Christmas is something to hope for rather than a regular occurrence. These are all more obvious effects of climate change, but there are smaller signs all around us.
At a climate stories workshop on Tuesday, John Davis, a musician and climate educator, led a presentation about how to tell impactful stories about climate change. He focused on telling personal stories rather than large, worldwide ones to spread awareness about the issue.
Davis compared the method to how the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter kicked off, saying those movements were based in telling personal stories and that was why they were so impactful.
One of the examples Davis provided was his piece “Footsteps in Snow,” which features the deep strings of a double bass paired with a recording of Inuit elder John Sinnok describing how climate change has affected his home village of Shishmaref, Alaska.
Back when I was young, we have always had north wind,” Sinnok said. “All the time, and we would have blizzards and cold north winds for a good month. But after that the snow gets so cold that you could hear people walking outside. You could hear their footsteps outside. Nowadays, it doesn’t get that cold anymore, where you can hear people walking past. The snow doesn’t get that hard, dry anymore, like it used to.”
When participants in the workshop began describing their own experiences, small things like flowers sprouting earlier than they used to and having to explain climate change to your child were mentioned. Davis said these were the types of experiences that people were going to remember and relate with.