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The Three Little Pigs and Climate Change

A fable for our time

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Once upon a time there was an old mother pig with three little pigs and not enough food to feed them. When they were old enough, she sent them out into the world to seek their fortunes. Before she said goodbye, she warned them to beware of the Big Bad Wolf.

The first little pig decided to settle down and build a house of straw. The other little pigs looked worried and reminded him of the Big Bad Wolf.

“Houses have been blown down before,” said the first pig. “How do we know it’s wolves? I heard that thirty years ago we thought it was bears. It might be the Sun.” And the first pig built his house of straw.


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The second little pig decided to build a house of sticks. “Are you sure that’s wise?” asked the third little pig. “Of course,” said the second little pig. “I am merely waiting for a new solution.  We will soon innovate our way to wolf-proof technology. Disrupt wolves. Have you heard of the blockchain?”

The third little pig, not wishing to hear more about the blockchain, gently pointed out that sticks were no more likely to withstand a wolf than straw. “The only way to innovate,” said the second pig, “is to do everything exactly as before. Anything else would kill the entrepreneurial spirit.” And the second pig built his house of sticks.

The third little pig walked on down the lane, meeting and talking with other creatures along the way, and collecting loose bricks and stones as she found them. With the help of her new friends, she worked hard and built a sturdy brick house with room for all.

The next day the Big Bad Wolf came upon the lane where the three little pigs lived; and he saw the straw house and smelled the pig inside. Knocking on the door, he called,

“Little pig! Little pig! Let me in!”

But the pig saw the wolf through the keyhole and answered,

“Not by the hair of my chinny-chin chin!” {which, it should be noted, is not a recommended protocol for wolf safety).

The wolf took a deep breath and cried,

“Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!”

And so he did. The little pig ran as hard as he could and escaped to hide with the second little pig.

The wolf continued down the lane until he came to the home of the second little pig. He knocked on the door and shouted,

“Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me in!”

And they responded

“No! No! No! Not by the hairs on our chinny chin chins.”

Which was, as you imagine, every bit as effective as before. The wolf huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house of sticks down! The two little pigs ran as fast as their trotters could carry them until they came to the house of the third little pig and her friends.

The three little pigs were now very frightened, because they knew the wolf had not eaten all day and was now very hungry. He knocked on the door and roared,

“Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me in!”.

“Not by the hairs on our…”

“Not right now, please. We are working to set appropriate boundaries,” interrupted the third little pig.

The ravenous wolf huffed, and he puffed. He puffed and he huffed. He huffed and he huffed but try as he might, he simply could not blow the brick house down. Out of breath, he stopped to rest.

The door of the brick house opened and the third little pig emerged looking very happy. She looked at the wolf, who was too surprised to eat her, and pointed to the windmill outside the house. The wolf’s huffing and puffing had generated enough power to boil a pot of water! The little piggy put the cover on and cooked up a dinner of locally sourced vegetables, which she shared with the wolf and her friends.

From that day onward, the wolf lived happily with the other creatures in the brick house and enjoyed a meaningful career huffing and puffing at the windmill every day. The two little pigs were allowed to remain in the brick house, which they happily decided had been their idea all along. And, once they had learned to do their chores without being asked and to refrain from explaining bricks to the third little pig or interrupting the other creatures, they all lived happily ever after.

Note: Climate change is real and dangerous. While technology and innovation are important tools to confront the crisis, we can’t wait for a technological silver bullet to stabilize global temperatures. And we don’t have to! In fact, most of the technological solutions we need already exist. What’s required is political will, organization, and leadership—especially the revolutionary potential of women and girls. Check out Project Drawdown for a list of actionable climate solutions we can implement right now.

Kate Marvel is a climate scientist at Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. She received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge and has worked at Stanford University, the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her writing has appeared in Scientific American, the On Being podcast and Nautilus magazine. Marvel has given talks in places as diverse as comedy clubs, prisons and the TED main stage.

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