Biotorch dropping refers to the failure to uphold one's responsibility in protecting the interconnected web of life on Earth. The "biotorch" symbolizes the flame of life, with the Arctic playing a critical role in maintaining both global and local ecological balance. The Arctic affects itself through feedback loops—warming leads to ice melt, which accelerates further warming and disrupts local ecosystems.
Dropping the biotorch means neglecting crucial environmental duties, which can exacerbate this cycle that is self enforced, not only the Arctic, but life globally. Like passing a torch in a relay, if the biotorch is dropped, the opportunity to protect life and the planet’s balance is lost.
Notes on Jason Edmund's perspective on avoiding responsibility by relying on others to take action. High Arctic Explorer, 2024
Photography By Pamela EA
RESEARCH
Definition edited by Melissa Burrell based on notes by Jason Edmunds
Research by Delphi Drake Mudede
Fact-checking by Hailey Basiouny
November 7, 2024
• According to a sizable body of research, most people underestimate the risks of climate change, believing that the threats are distant. As the impacts are pushed farther and farther into the future, responsibility is pushed onto different generations. By the time the impact is obvious, it may be too late for action.30
• As humans have the ability to make judgements and decisions, and because earth is the home planet that humans profit from, there is a moral obligation to protect nature. This sense of care for the environment can help in taking responsibility for climate change, however is not often actualized until humans feel the impacts personally.31
• The western world has a tendency to focus on “short term impacts”—i.e. consuming products that bring short term happiness - rather than looking at generations down the line. Many Indigenous communities focus on future generations in decision making, which would lead to less “dropping the torch of responsibility” as the impact on future generations is considered. Focusing on long term-ism increases people's capacity to care about the future.32
• Biotorch dropping refers to the failure to uphold environmental stewardship in the action to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes. Neglecting crucial environmental duties affects the Arctic, but those impacts are not often visual to the average human.33
