Braden Gage


I read an article called “Phenomenology of Everyday Climate” that looked at how people actually feel and experience climate and environmental issues in their everyday lives instead of just talking about them through abstract ideas, and it made environmental phenomenology seem way more personal and embodied to me. The authors look at how metaphors like “the planet is sick” influence how people think and feel about climate change, and they point out that our bodily reactions and emotions like disgust, attachment, or worry, are part of how we relate to the environment, not just scientific facts or numbers. This feels similar to what we read about Merleau‑Ponty saying we should return to the things themselves, because the article emphasizes actual lived experience of climate, including how people emotionally respond to nature and nonhuman things around them. Reading this made me think that environmental studies shouldn’t just be about theories or data; it should be about how we feel and experience the world too, because those experiences shape how we understand and act in relation to the environment. It also makes me wonder how much influence things like our feelings and metaphors have on how people accept or deny climate change, and whether focusing on lived experience could help communicate environmental issues better.

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