Crosspost: The "Pale Blue Dot" Blues

Reconciling a career in astrophysics with eco-anxiety

by Suchitra Narayanan 

Though generally we cover phenomena beyond our Solar System, beyond the Milky Way, or even beyond the Local Group all the way to the very edge of the observable Universe, today’s Beyond Astrobites post is about our very own Earth. 

An eerie scene of the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, CA, USA), with an orange sky backdrop, as a result of the smoke and ash from the August Complex fires. Source: The New York Times

Climate change is, and will continue to be, the defining crisis of this century, and its effects will be felt by every single human. Extreme weather patterns, with California wildfires becoming a way of life and Texas freezing over, rising sea levels threatening island nations all around the globe, and declining biodiversity leading to loss of essential life are all being exacerbated on a daily basis. As we study and characterize atmospheres of planets parsecs away from us, Earth’s own is changing in front of our eyes. 

Why study the Universe when we have so many problems on Earth?

Read the rest of the article on AstroBites: https://astrobites.org/2021/06/04/astro-and-eco-anxiety/