Listening to The Earth : what the artists and scientists tell us

This is a time of cataclysmic climate change, with raging fires across the western US landscape, the threat of life-threatening floods to coastal regions worldwide, and numerous other effects. A basic premise of this paper is that in searching for remedy, we must listen to the Earth, and through listening, discover what it is that ails the planet, and seek restorative action. Our journey in this article takes us into the realms of poetry, philosophy, and restorative justice, as well as the science of ecology. Ecosystems theory, an approach that unites truths from both art and science, is the guiding framework for this paper.

As citizens of Mother Earth, whose welfare depends on the health of the world around us, we can look to nature to be our teacher. As stated in the King James Bible:

But ask now the beasts and they shall teach thee;

And the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee;

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee.

Job 12:7-8