Nature: Visible & InvisibleNature: Visible & Invisible

Jeffrey T. KiehlClimate Change Research Section

National Center for Atmospheric Research

Jeffrey T. KiehlClimate Change Research Section

National Center for Atmospheric Research

Nature: Visible & InvisibleNature: Visible & Invisible

VisibleScientific ObservationsClimate Model SimulationsPersonal Experiences

InvisibleLoss of Lived WorldPsyche & Nature’s Interiority

VisibleScientific ObservationsClimate Model SimulationsPersonal Experiences

InvisibleLoss of Lived WorldPsyche & Nature’s Interiority

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Comparison of Greenhouse Gas ProjectionsAgainst Geologic History of Global Temperatures

Glob. Temp. ChangeIPCC 2100Maximum Emission Scenario

Glo

bal T

empe

ratu

re C

hang

e fr

om P

rese

nt (°

C)

Global Tem

perature Change from

Present (°F)

Age (Millions of Years Ago)

(AD 2200-2300?)

High ClimateSensitivity

LowClimate Sensitivity

(Geol. Data)

(No Arctic/Greenland ice, small Antarctic Ice Sheet)

(Low, Middle, High)

PastPresent

Crowley(2001)

G. A. Meehl et al., Science 307, 1769 -1772 (2005)

Sea Level

Surface Temperature

He who begins with facts will never arrive at essences

Jean-Paul Sartre

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored

Aldous Huxley

Arising QuestionsArising Questions

Why do we treat Nature as we do?How does Nature become invisible?What do we lose when Nature becomes

invisible?What is the connection between our

values and our actions towards Nature?

Why do we treat Nature as we do?How does Nature become invisible?What do we lose when Nature becomes

invisible?What is the connection between our

values and our actions towards Nature?

Nature Visible Nature Invisible

Coal Plant Carbon Dioxide Warming Greenhouse Effect Local Region Remote Region Present Future Embodied Disembodied Connected Disconnected Remembered Forgotten Conscious Unconscious

Individual

Society

Patterns:Character Structures

Personality TraitsTypology

Patterns:InstinctualArchetypal

Psychology & Environment

Behaviors

Behaviors

Visible Changes in Nature

Human Causes of Change

Values

Exterior Interior

Behavior

Needs

Desires

Values

Complexes

Behaviors

ArchetypesInstincts

Society

Conscious Reflection

Needs

Desires

Values

Behaviors

Instincts

Society

Values

Complexes

Behaviors

Archetypes

Society

Change in conscious perspective

Requires opening up to imagining other ways, other purposes, other perspectives

Requires relative position in world

Requires connecting to other ways of knowing (e.g. feeling, intuition)

Ability to connect depends on what we value

Exploring the Visible and Invisible Worlds of Nature

Phenomenology of the Outer World

Phenomenology of the Inner World

Being-in-the-World

• Lived Space• Lived Time• Lived Body• Lived Relationship

• Dreams• Synchronicities• Somatic• Narrative

Values

Collective Manifestation Personal Manifestation

MythReligions

Belief Systems

DevelopmentCenters of Affect

Narrative

Sense of WholenessInterconnectedness

Dis

DisconnectedDisembodiedDissonanceDisplacedDiseasedDistantDispossessedDisappear…

Dante’s City of Dis reserved for intellectual sins

Round 1 Violence against othersRound 2 Violence against selfRound 3 Violence against NaturePunishment: Left naked on burning sands with fire raining down from unnatural clouds

In a dark time the eye begins to seeTheodore Roethke

Without deep reflection, we have taken on the story of endings, assumed the story of extinction… We need new stories…a new narrative that would imagine another way, to learn the infinite mystery and movement at work in the world.

Linda Hogan

“The nature we see and the nature we feel, the one out there and the one in here,both must permeate each other in order to last, to live.” van Gogh

Visible Videre weid-

O.E. wiseGr. form, eidosGr. Hades, underworld, ‘invisible world’Skt. knowledge, veda

How do we connect to these worlds?

• Imagination is needed to re-animate both worlds• Through image and story we can connect people to the issues