Amanda Gorman recites her inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” during the 59th presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2021.
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Amanda Gorman captured the world’s attention with her passionate delivery of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. For most viewers, this was probably the moment Gorman burst upon their consciousness. So, readers may be intrigued to know that in 2018, a year after she was honored as the first U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, Gorman recorded a similarly passionate piece, “Earthrise,” that she wrote about the need for all of us to act boldly to lessen climate change.
Her spoken-word delivery in the video makes her plea—and her keen grasp of the facts—even more compelling. Striking images of Earth, nicely produced by the Climate Reality Project, reinforce the nature of our planet’s fragility. Rather than say more here, we encourage you to have a look and listen.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
Thank you,
Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American