At Allegheny College I took one art class: Drawing 101. I really dislike saying "I can't draw" but I was definitely one of the worst in this class. One of the phrases that stuck with me from my professor was "draw what you actually see, not what you want to see." When you actually start to see what is around, instead of what you think you see, the trees never are one-large-straight-trunk but rather a twisting formation of bark and branches. The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney got me to appreciate clouds for what they are, instead of how I imagine them to be.

When I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity a few years back, one of my favorite signs stated "Give me moderation or give me death!" They weren't asking for extremism on any side. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring embodies this sentiment today. Even though it part of the foundation of the environmental movement, she didn't call for mass legislation or radical movements.

To be honest, even though I have been studying environmentalism and how to teach it since college, I had not formally read the book until this month. Each one of my professors would ask "who all have read Silent Spring?" and I would raise my hand, since everyone else was. I knew the gist; Carson was arguing against DDT, but I didn't realize how moderate of a viewpoint this book is in 2017.

Our world is in pain. From deforestation to wars, the needless killing of life is widespread. The more I personally learn about this pain, the more reason I have to give up hope. But Jane Goodall sees it differently. Despite the pain, despite the challenge, she sees four specifics reasons why we should still have hope.

In her autobiography Reason for Hope, Dr. Goodall takes us through a lifetime of wisdom. From the forests of Africa to New York City, she shares about her own personal struggle and joys with following the hopeful path. If you are feeling burnt out from work, the news, or anything, this is a fantastic read to keep hope.

Fact: Our average global temperature is increasing at a very rapid rate.

Fact: This trend started to happen around the industrial revolution.

Fact: Therefore, humans have played a serious role in our global climate change.

We can argue over specific numbers and details, but you can't argue with the facts above. Even though they have been given a lot of air time, 'climate skeptics' are generally seen as misinformed at best and malicious toward truth at worst. Even though America has the highest percentage of climate skeptics per capita, Kari Marie Norgaard identifies a even larger threat: climate deniers.

In January of 1992, a large shipping container traveling from Hong Kong to the US capsized in a massive storm. This happens, but what was unique was one of the items being shipped: 28,800 bath toys. Our global currents sent these toys on a journey bigger than they could imagine.

When the first ducks were being found, there was little story about them. But as more and more kept appearing, media and the populous started to organize and share their findings. Beachcombers searched for the 'next big cache' of ducks. Environmentalists wanted to use this in court to stop shipping across the oceans. Oceanographers analyzed the data to determine how our ocean currents actually move.