Winds of Change (Feb 22, 2022)
The Dreams of our Children
Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall when Klaus Meine, of the rock band Scorpions, was at a Moscow peace concert in 1989, he sensed a change in the air, a new openness towards the west which galvanised him to write Scorpions’ famous haunting melody and hit track, Wind of Change. While the political breeze may well be blowing away from glasnost in a reversal of that haunting mood of hope, captured by Meine on a sultry Moscow evening, this winter increasingly destructive meteorological storms in the west have shown us how close we have come to creating irrevocable climate change which underlines the urgency for each of us to act now, rather than waiting for the world’s governments to save us. Children desire a safer future than the soiled leftovers of their consumer-centric parents. They deserve it too. The winds of February 2022 have placed the urgency of climate change right before our eyes, indeed whistling about our ears.
Storm Eunice hailed red weather warnings across the UK and many parts of Northern Europe and wind speeds of over 100 mph with real risk of danger to life. The storm brought widespread structural damage, falling debris and substantial disruption to energy supplies. Tops of houses were popped off like the lid off a Pringles tube and even the roof panels of the O2 stadium were not immune to the ravages of this storm. Across Britain there was massive upheaval to public transport, road, rail and air. On 18 February hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at London airports and Schiphol in Amsterdam. One easyJet flight from the south west of France tried to land at Gatwick twice whilst enduring wind gusts with peak of 78 mph before it was compelled to return to the departure city of Bordeaux. Where Corrie and Dudley started their work, Eunice brought record breaking gusts of wind to the UK and was soon followed by a ferocious Francis with Gladys hot on its heels and rising river levels warn of major flooding thereafter.
Our world is changing extremely quickly. Climate change education is more important now than ever: understanding the causes and effects of climate change is the first step in shifting mindsets, establishing new ways of limiting its impact, and adapting to its unavoidable effects. In today’s world, skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication are vital to actively help shape change. With high-quality teaching materials and innovative methods, our aim is to create more and improved climate change education in schools to bring about urgent environmental, societal, and economic transformation. As Joan Didian wrote in her 1968 book Slouching towards Bethlehem, “The wind shows us how close to the edge we are." Students today need to study renewable energy because it will be a vital part of the world they inhabit. When we teach them about renewable energy, they will have a realistic connection to energy and learn what a future with green energy looks like.
In 1989 Scorpions described a place “where the children of tomorrow share their dreams with you and me.” Let these winds of change be a wake-up call for each of us to go greener and listen to those dreams for a better future for our children.