| Standing before Notre Dame's soaring walls can inspire even the most jaded observer. This "symphony in stone," as Victor Hugo called it, rises more than 10 stories high atop dozens of limestone pillars mean to inspire the faithful. Like many of the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, it was the work of generations of skilled, paid laborers. A stonecutter laying its foundation could reasonably expect his great-great-grandson to put the finishing touches on the steeple more than a century later. We need great works like Notre Dame in our fight against climate change, says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. It's easy to lose hope over a year like the last one, which saw Amazonian drought, rampant deforestation, coral reef die-offs and the hottest recorded year on Earth. But reversing this will not be the job of a single generation. It will take many decades, if not centuries, of what Leiserowitz calls "cathedral projects." "The climate needs big, public, audacious goals that everyone can contribute to," argues Leiserowitz. "Cathedrals were not completed in the lifetime of anyone starting them, but communities bought into these projects." Everything from rebuilding coral reefs and reforesting the Amazon to repowering the world's energy system and capturing gigatons of carbon dioxide could be the cathedrals of our time. We should convey them as bold, transcendent projects for the collective good that encompass generations, moving away from the dry, dense language of technical climate reports. Here's what it would take to build the athedrals of our climate future. Telling time in the climate change era Many of us act as if life on Earth will continue as it has within our lifetime. But in an oft-used analogy, David Brower, the former director of the Sierra Club, showed the folly of this assumption comparing the last 4 billion years of Earth's existence to six days of creation. On this time scale, life on Earth would have evolved around 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Plants and animals emerged from the oceans over the subsequent days. Dinosaurs appeared late Saturday, and redwoods took root a few hours later. A few minutes before midnight on Saturday, humanity debuted. The Industrial Revolution kicked off just a fraction of a second before the clock struck 12. "We are surrounded with people that think what we have been doing for that one-fortieth of a second can go on indefinitely," Brower is quoted as saying. "They are considered normal, but they are stark raving mad." We've altered the future Whether you agree with Brower or not, our actions have changed the course of the planet, and humanity, for centuries. It will take 1,000 years for a molecule of CO2 from burning fossil fuels today to be deposited back in geological reserves. Even if we stop carbon emissions tomorrow, it will take decades for the heating to slow as the Earth's oceans and atmosphere reach equilibrium. Some effects — ocean acidification, polar ice melting and some sea level rise — are already essentially irreversible. It's time to start planning for the next thousand years. Cathedrals offer a lesson here. Much of the creative energy of medieval European society was channeled into these monumental cathedrals, according to the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage site: "Being involved in the construction of a cathedral required a willingness to be part of a process that was larger than oneself." We no longer live in a world dominated by religion, but our progress, too, depends on something that's more inspiration than innovation: A common belief in building a better future. To learn more, click the button below. Did you know I read all your emails? Be part of the Climate Coach community. Write with what you'd like to see in this newsletter: climatecoach@washpost.com. | 
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