La historia ante el cambio climático: la conciencia de los límites

Abstract

This article is about the role of history in these times of ecological crisis and climate emergency. There is a significant gap between the dominant historiographical discourse and the social demands for use-ful knowledge imposed by reality. We historians find ourselves in a sit-uation in which the challenges to be faced do not find support in the narratives we reproduce, teach or construct. The dominant historiographical discourse only serves to legitimise a society in crisis, delaying the conscience of change. This article also claims the important role that historical knowledge can play in solving environmental problems. This requires historiography to change the way it relates to nature and to place the human being, the raw material of the history, in the bio-physical environment. This is not an anachronistic or presentist preten-sion but a necessary mode of operating, no different from what other societies did in the past. Therefore, an «environmental turn» is necessary to reinforce the public uses of history, spreading awareness of the environmental limits and cooperating in solving the climate emergency and, in general, of the ecological crisis. This is independent of those who want to engage more actively in the resolution of the crisis by practising environmental history.