An adventure in the Alps to inspire and unlock climate action

Climate change, scientifically established for decades, is undeniably driven by human activity. Awareness is growing, hesitant yet real, but actions remain critically insufficient. While plans are taking shape and projections sharpen, the efforts required to mitigate and adapt to this crisis are daunting. Paradoxically, grasping the scale of these efforts is as challenging as believing they are achievable. Yet they are, if we commit fully, both individually and collectively. Unfortunately, such commitment remains elusive.

    The drive for action is stalled by the lack of compelling narratives, stories that inspire and mobilize. As climatologists, shouldn’t we broaden our communication strategies to convey the urgency of climate action while engaging both hearts and minds? Turning to art and adventure offers a transformative path to connect with broader audiences, blending gravity with hope to inspire collective action.

    This vision inspired me, as a young climate scientist, to design and complete ‘Tethys,’ an extraordinary Alpine journey aimed at communicating the climate challenge while serving scientific research. Over 112 days in semi-autonomy, I hiked 3,420 km with 203,000 m of elevation gain, swam 128 km across peri-alpine lakes, and carried or towed an 18–28 kg backpack while collecting 138 water samples from peri-alpine lakes and tributaries for a research project.

    Tethys is a living metaphor, a story crafted to embody the scale of the climate challenge, transforming abstract commitments into tangible, physical ones. I designed this adventure to make the metaphor real: a race against time, against our own limits, and a deep dive into the physical and mental resilience required to meet these challenges. This project also serves as an experiment in reimagining geosciences, introducing concepts of vulnerability and humility into our investigations while fostering engagement and dialogue within the scientific community.

    Grounded in real-world experience, Tethys paves the way for impactful climate communication, offering the public a narrative to inspire action. It is an odyssey of resilience and hope, an ode to climate commitment, told with passion and poetry through the lens of a daring adventure. To bend the emissions curve, we may first need to bow, humbly and resolutely, to the natural world we inhabit.

 

A documentary film is underway, alongside plans for a graphic narrative that chronicles this journey and its parallels with the climate challenge.

Website: https://www.aventure-tethys.fr/en