Perspective

In 1987, space philosopher Frank White coined a term to describe how astronauts think about Earth and life after viewing our planet from outer space. He called it the overview effect—a cognitive shift reported by those who spend extended time aboard the International Space Station.

Artemis II Mission Specialist Christina Koch sums it up this way: "The overview effect is when you're looking through the cupola and you see the Earth as it exists with the whole universe in the background. You see the thin blue line of the atmosphere, and then on the dark side of the Earth, you actually see this very thin green line where the atmosphere is. What you realize is every single person that you know is sustained and inside of that green line and everything else is completely inhospitable. You don't see borders, you don't see religious lines, you don't see political boundaries. All you see is Earth, and you see that we are way more alike than we are different." 

Koch's crewmate, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, compared the overview effect with the sea level effect: "You come back to sea level and you have a choice. Are you going to try to live your life a little differently? Are you going to choose to be a member of this community of Earth?"

Astronaut Mike Foreman added, "I think if you're not a conservationist before you go to space, you're at least partly a conservationist when you come back. Because when you see how thin that atmosphere is, that protective layer that we have here, you think, wow, we really have to take care of this.”

I was thinking about the overview effect—about perspective, and how it should overrule short-term thinking.  Recently, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding, an EPA conclusion following the 2007 Supreme Court decision that greenhouse gases threaten human health and welfare. The White House says the finding hurt industry and the economy, and that prior administrations twisted the science to levy undue hardships on power companies and automobile manufacturers. 

Fragility may be the clearest takeaway of the overview effect. There are solid indications that another El Niño is in store for us and slated to arrive sometime between June and September. If it happens, environmental journalist Bill McKibben says buckle up and prepare for bedlam, because every El Niño in recent decades is worse than the preceding one. More fires, more floods, more droughts, more tipping points breached. Fragility. 

Astronaut T.J. Creamer described the overview effect as heart-stopping, soul-pounding.  “Every single crew member that I brought in (the cupola) cried."

The Winter Olympics have come to an end. For 17 days the world came together with no regard for religion or nation or race. Athletes engaged in spirited competition, forged friendships, shared dreams, set aside differences. They behaved as if they were from the same neighborhood, as if what they had in common mattered most. In a small way, a gathering of athletes understood the overview effect for 17 days. 

Ron Garan spent 178 days in space, circling the planet 2,842 times. After witnessing the paper-thin barrier that allows earthly life to flourish, he said, “I didn’t see an economy, but since our human-made systems treat everything including the very life-support systems of our planet as the subsidiary of the global economy, it’s obvious… we’re living a lie… We need to move from thinking economy-society-planet to planet-society-economy.” 

It’s the end of February, 2026. A light snow fills the air. At times the flakes nearly stop, as if undecided where to go, as if challenging their direction. As if they have a choice.