Climate change is the greatest problem-- and challenge-- of our lifetime. It is difficult to get our heads around this problem and challenge because it is so large and all-embracing; it is also because special interests and their supporters use the media to obscure the facts, downplay the issues, and keep people in the dark about climate change, and its urgency. Needless to say, it is vitally important for people, and leaders, to understand this issue, its ramifications, and how to come up with viable ways to counter and ameliorate it.

 
Climate change is a matter of grave concern to agriculture. Most farmers live close to nature and work the soil. They stay alert to changes in environmental conditions, including climate and weather. Keeping an eye on the calendar, they observe the weather and the local ecology to properly time their planting, cultivating, and harvesting. City dwellers don’t realize it, but changes in the climate signal new challenges for farmers. As the climate changes, farmers face new ensembles of weather (e.g., increased rainfall or lack of rain), as well as new weeds, pests, and blights, and they have to adapt. While striving to track and adapt to climate change, it also remains urgent to reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture (= about 20% of human generated greenhouse gases, mostly CO2 and methane).

 
In the following, I bring some philosophy to the discussion, not in the form of argumentation but rather for considering strategies for (i) getting the climate message out in a way that grips people’s sense of responsibility, and (2) suggesting alternative modes of thinking and living that incline people-- whether in farming, teaching, or other walks of life-- to accept that climate change looms and that we all need to change our mindset, outlook, and lifestyle to get a grip on and respond to the challenges ahead.