Dear Non-human Creatures of 2050:
As one of your sister species, having evolved from you and alongside you for 3.8 billion years, I am heart-heavy to say with such regret that our species has created a mess. We have come in like a whirling dervish, in a few short centuries, to turn on end the homeostatic balance of the world you depend on. Climate disruption, plastics and chemicals spread to every corner, and loss of our planet’s beloved creatures every day. I must ask… how are you doing?
I’m told you will continue, that you will survive better than we will. The ingenious solutions of evolution will work around this little bump in geological time within a few millennia. And yet, I am sad for the losses of the miracle that each of you as species are. I’m sad that one large-headed species, as brilliant as we are, couldn’t manage to stop our collective destruction of the only home we know, taking many of you with us. I know… you will keep on… the forces that have led to your successes will continue. Some of you, lamentably, will come to an evolutionary dead-end (and shhh… some suggest that we may too.)
As your sister species, I regret our own lack of foresight. I wish we had been wiser, more creative, more optimistic. I wish we had appreciated you more and insisted on caring for your potential as well as our own. I wish we had had the ability to see beyond our immediate needs, though of course that skill has been essential to our evolutionary success. Now though, perhaps it is a hindrance. We have been unable to stop the run-away train of our consumption, of our reproductive success, of our dazzling but toxifying solutions. Suddenly we face our own potential demise, and yours, and it is shocking.
From my vantage point in 2020, this is not the only possibility. A healthy future for you and us is still available. Yet it depends on tremendous determination, and change, and smarts. I am so curious about what we will be able to do! I hope that by 2050, we will see that we have turned the ship. That we are limiting the relentless warming, that we have drastically reduced the toxic chemicals, that we have reclaimed and set aside healthy spaces for you. I hope that we are creating resilient communities and caring for your homes too. I hope we can continue together in this incredible tapestry of life.
My sadness is softened by action. It feels good to do all I can to help create a healthy future. Many around the world are working for you. Will it be enough? I’ll keep my fingers crossed… and get back to work.
Beth
This letter was collected as part of DearTomorrow Missoula, a partnership between Families for a Livable Climate and Climate Smart Missoula with DearTomorrow, an award-winning climate storytelling project where people write messages to loved ones living in the future. Messages are shared now at deartomorrow.org and through social media, public talks, community events, and public art to inspire deep thinking and bold action on climate.