TIDES OF CHANGE: The Starry Messenger

The Starry Messenger by Jeffrey Vossler

Just over 400 years ago, an Italian mathematician and astronomer named Galileo Galilei published findings that were, in more ways than one, revolutionary. He had gazed heavenward with his powerful new telescope, and was the first scientist to observe and describe things invisible to the naked eye—craters on the Moon, the depth of the star field behind the Pleiades, and, most importantly to our story, the movements of the four moons of Jupiter. In further writings based off of these observations, he asserted the truth of the heliocentric view of the universe, first put forth by Copernicus 60 years before, which stated that the Earth and other heavenly bodies revolved around the Sun. 

The prevailing view at the time, especially by those who held power, was geocentric. The Earth was the center of a universe which revolved around it, a thought based on the ancient Greek Ptolemy's model, plus a literal translation of the Bible. The Catholic Church knew that this new discovery went against the grain of their doctrine, and could threaten people’s faith—and their position of power. The Pope sent a cardinal to command Galileo to abandon his ideas. Galileo kept quiet for a while, but couldn’t refrain from telling the truth, so the Roman Inquisition was dispatched; Galileo was put on trial for heresy, found guilty, made to recant his statements, and promise not to teach them again. His books were banned, and he was forbidden by the Church to publish any more.

It is a matter of legend that, after he was forced to recant his discoveries and was sentenced to house arrest where he would end his days, he famously uttered this rebellious reply to the powerful church who told him the universe was fixed: “And yet it moves.”

Times have changed. Today we know Galileo was right, and using the ideas he championed, our species has traveled further than he could have ever conceived. We have landed on the Moon that he observed, and sent spacecraft to the far corners of our solar system.

And yet—when we point our ever-more-sophisticated instruments at the planet we inhabit, when we observe how the Earth on which we live is changing because of human activity, how global temperatures and seas are rising because of our continued emission of greenhouse gases, how frequent forest fires and hurricanes threaten our cities, we find ourselves living out a similar story as our astronomer friend. Nowadays, the role of Galileo is played by the overwhelming majority of the world’s scientists. The debate is not about whether the Earth revolves around the Sun, but about the realities of anthropogenic (i.e., human-caused) climate change. The powerful suppressors of truth are found no longer the Catholic Church, but in the boardrooms of multi-billion-dollar oil companies and in high offices in the Legislative and Executive branches of the American government. Using rhetoric, lobbying, propaganda, and flat-out denial of scientific fact and consensus, they have created the appearance of a scientific controversy where there isn’t one, muddying the waters enough to prevent critical action when it’s most needed. Their

motives are clear, as we have seen just this year in Venezuela, the thirst for oil is strong enough to drop bombs to ensure its flow. But for every barrel we burn, the planet warms a bit more—ice melts, forests blaze, hurricanes churn, and sea level rises—and we’re all paying the price.

These are global problems, and the hyper-connected times we live in makes them feel both

magnified and distant. And yet, for all their far scope, local questions arise—what will happen to those of us in Wilmington, we who live between a mighty river and the rising sea? When will the waters come lapping at our doorstep? What will become of the birds and fish, the marshes and forests, that we share our little corner of the planet with? Perhaps the most important question of all: Are we powerless to do anything about it? Has the thread of Fate been spun, and are we all just waiting on the scissors? Or is there still hope, and time to change our ways? We must believe that there is.

This monthly essay series, planned for the entire year of 2026, will attempt to

answer those questions, and many more that arise along the way. Through in-depth reporting and discussions with local scientists, naturalists, and environmental experts from many fields, as well as excursions into our local environment, I hope to paint an accurate and clear picture of how climate change is already affecting life on the Carolina coast and make predictions about what we might expect for tomorrow. And I won’t be the only one—our team working on this project includes artists and actors, river-keepers and filmmakers, writers and editors, intent on bringing you this information in more ways than the printed page. We also wish to deliver to you hope, that most precious thing: a stated goal of this series is to highlight actions and efforts that we can do, right here, right now, in our community, that will make a positive difference.

Artwork by Jeffrey Vossler

Another resource we’ll be referring to throughout the series is a book called “Drawdown: the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.” Published in 2017, it’s a collection of the 100 most substantive solutions to climate change, and is the result of meticulous research by 70 leading scientists and policymakers from 22 countries around the world, 40 percent of whom are women and half of whom have doctorates. Editor Paul Hawken writes in the introduction that “...almost all of the solutions compiled and analyzed [in Drawdown] lead to regenerative economic outcomes that create security, produce jobs, improve health, save money, facilitate mobility, eliminate hunger, prevent pollution, restore soil, clean rivers, and more... We see global warming not as an inevitability but as an invitation to build, innovate, and effect change, a pathway that awakens creativity, compassion, and genius. This is not a liberal agenda, nor is it a conservative one. This is the human agenda.” After a close reading by your correspondent, I believe there are many solutions that we can effect right here at home that will both change our environment for the better and put us back in the driver’s seat, making Wilmington a leader regionally and (dare I dream?) globally in the fight to save the biosphere.

And why shouldn’t we lead the way? We are already seeing, and will continue to see, effects of climate change and sea level rise in our region, whether we like it or not, so we may as well try and do something. If not us, then who? When the current president has called climate change a “Chinese hoax,” moves to shut down clean energy projects nationwide, and cuts funding for science at every turn, all while recklessly invading other countries to line the already-bursting pockets of his friends in the oil industry, we must look closer to home for leadership. Unfortunately there are still many among us who believe the partisan propaganda and spin, who stick their heads in the sands of Wrightsville Beach like ostriches, ignoring the flood of evidence as the waters slowly rise. To them, we must open conversation, and give the medicine of compassion and fact in equal doses, leading them from the cave of twisted illusion into the sunlight of truth. We reply to their refutation of reality as Galileo did: And yet it changes.

We need a Copernican-level revolution for how we as a community and a nation think about

anthropogenic climate change. We have to act—indeed, we’re the only ones who can—if not for our own sake, then for the sake of our children and grandchildren. The effects are already here, and the predictions show it’s going to get worse. But there’s still a chance to avoid total catastrophe. The clock is ticking. The best time to act was yesterday, but today is just as good. Tomorrow it may be too late.

Welcome to Tides of Change.