This phrase is humbling, because as a society that can be so detached from the natural world, remembering that we evolved from the “gill-breathing inhabitants of a water world” can serve as reason to open our hearts and minds to creatures that aren’t so far from ourselves.

Furthermore, Carson exemplifies the interconnectedness of global ecosystems by unifying the earth’s four major water bodies. This is another example of how Carson utilizes scale to represent the world of which she is speaking of. Carson states, “There is, then, no water that is wholly of the Pacific, or wholly of the Atlantic, or of the Indian or the Antarctic. The surf that we find exhilarating at Virginia Beach or at La Jolla today may have lapped at the base of Antarctic icebergs or sparkled in the Mediterranean sun, years ago, before it moved through dark and unseen waterways to the place we find it now. It is by the deep, hidden currents that the

oceans are made one” (TSAU 144). Repeating the word “wholly,” Carson is reiterating once again that there is no such thing as the ocean being separate from other oceans, and that they are, in fact, connected. By describing that the water in California could have touched the magnificent icebergs, the reader is reminded that we are small in comparison to the scale of our earth. There has never been a more vital system. This lyrical way in which Carson writes, with each word appearing as if it was chosen specifically to be there, shows a romanticism of the natural world that readers flocked to in her writing. Carson reiterates the scale at which the human race is to the human planet when she says, “All this, of course, will require time on a scale the mind finds it difficult to conceive, and before it happens it is quite probable that the human race will have vanished from the earth. This may seem, then, like a Wellsian fantasy of a world so remote that we may dismiss it from our thoughts” (TSAU 152).

The term environmental communications ecompassess many media forms, including scientific journals that publish scholarly articles, a documentary narrated by David Attenborough on the many ways the climate crisis is affecting all types of biodiverse regions, or the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson that was published in 1962 that became the first of it’s kind to advocate for a respect and reverence for nature through the scientific lens of biology. In the modern world, we’ve found that many people consume their information through a different array of media, including Instagram, Youtube, Podcasts, Twitter, Reddit, or TikTok. Each platform has their own specific focus of formats, from audio only to short form video to photos to long blogs.You can choose your poison in how you want to take in information surrounding the environmental movement, and there are multiple different folks who can offer the information to you. 

With this influx of media forms, we’ve seen a surplus in environmental accounts on all applications, whether it’s an increase in Youtube channels that share vegan recipes and low-waste living tips, Instagram groups that post infographics breaking down climate policy, or Tiktokers using their platform to call out businesses that could be more sustainable. Each of these accounts has a different level of success associated with them, and there are multiple ways to view their popularity or following. On Youtube it’s the number of subscribers one has and the amount of views their videos get, whereas on Instagram it’s relevant to the overall engagement and shares that a single post might receive. Tiktok has seen a new boom of users, and similar to Instagram the measure of importance of content is based on engagement, views, and likes. Podcasts are a bit more guarded in their viewership, with a less-than-easy-to-find listener count and monthly downloads. One can also base the popularity of a podcast on the number of followers their connected Instagram account has. 

We have to look outside our current basis of understanding to recognize her importance on ourselves and others around the world. 

Something that has come to the forefront in most recent climate media efforts is the idea that, as Tolkar puts, “the principle of climate justice highlights the experiences and urgent needs of people around the world who contribute the least to excessive greenhouse gas emission but live with the most severe consequences of accelerating climate chaos” (Tolkar). This is the primary reason there is even a climate movement: the overarching theme that those who are doing the least to cause it are going to be affected the most. We see this happening on drastic levels already today, as climate change events worsen around the world, most people who are being affected are those in developing countries. This is the fault of colonialism that we are fighting - Tolkar also makes the argument that colonialism and fossil fuels are intrinsically linked, which is why it is so hard to detach from them. Our current reality is so entrenched and rooted in these systems of oppression that to see outside of them is asking a lot of the standard individual. How do we even imagine a world where people have sovereignty, where societies around the world have access to basic human rights and common goods, where government and corporations do not exist and instead are replaced by institutions of holistic and socially benefitting resources?  

The REDD program outlined in the Perkins and Soto-Karlin paper identifies the problem with this very idea exactly. Much like the creation of fossil fuels, many of the initial creations of “climate solutions” come without the consideration of all parties involved. Very often we see this attempt to constantly slap bandaids on top of overflowing tubs of injustice and environmental degradation. Carbon offsets do not solve the problem, but allow corporations to hypnotize the community into believing that anything has been done. In their conclusion, Perkins and Soto-Karlin explain that “These conflicts illustrate how environmental interventions are situated in complex sociopolitical environments that shape how they are received” (Perkins, Soto-Karlin). When moving forward, we have to acknowledge and act in response to these needs for  holistic and mutually beneficial solutions.