Negative 22 Fahrenheit
Warming Arctic fuels polar vortex,—the end of our world.
T
hat is a headline which we will never see on the front page of the New York Times. Tell me that you have not thought of that possibility, the consequence of disruption of normal, seasonal weather patterns, such that commerce, agriculture, and social life are disrupted…. I have.
I exchanged email yesterday with a friend who does not believe that human caused global warming is a feature of life. His frame of reference is solely that of the normal fluctuations of atmospheric and oceanic flows; that is the ebb and flow of change as influenced by natural systems apart from the impact of ubiquity of human civilization on the planet. Never mind that the oceans are filling with plastic debris, fish stocks are seriously depleted, drought sets up conditions for devastating wild fires, and mass immigration driven by conflict overwhelms the social stability of Europe. My friend would reply that that this is no different than it has always been. My rejoinder would be that every age is distinct, and sometimes disaster does happen.
So here I am in the twilight years of my life, fortunate to be here. Here to observe the great southward slide of the polar vortex, to feel the knife blade of sub-zero wind on my face, to see the snow devil ice crystals move, clouds of tiny diamonds in the morning sun…. Here to take account of all of this extreme change, —shifting unpredictable weather patterns, this country with a President ignorant, fearful, petulant, with no negotiation skills, and a social order made precarious by a runaway disparity in wealth.
There will be a beginning, an after. These are the birth pains, the precursor of the realignment, the new beginning, the passing of the old, and the emergence of the new. Not to lose myself in a fit of romantic decoupling from reality, we will learn to live differently, simply, with more kindness and forgiveness toward ourselves and others, less rule bound, more locally minded, more free.
4 thoughts on “Negative 22 Fahrenheit”
There have always been deniers of science throughout humankind’s history. Science inevitably proves them wrong. There have always been rationalizers, too as well as people who speak a bit with forked tongues turning scientific matters into political matters or worse, egotistic matters of I’m right/you’re wrong, further confusing one’s senses if one doesn’t watch out for it. But, society overall seems to be getting climate change. The U.N. has acknowledged its danger. Scientists are holding firm with rare exception, and continuing their scientific studies. Windmill and solar energies are in a lot more used as are natural gases. Auto manufacturers for the first time are seriously developing electric cars for now and the future. Even when Trump pulls out of worldwide climate change accords, the rest of civilized nations continue on with the accord. And, private US business sectors are recognizing clean energy efficiencies are the future.
Just my take on it.
Stay warm and safe.
Excellent post Jerry ! Blessings
What does human activity that supposedly causes global warming got to do with oceans filling with plastic? I think that the plastic problem is definitely caused by humans, in fact 90% of all plastics in the world come from 10 rivers, 8 from China and 2 from Africa. I’d like for them to stop that along with the horrible idea that rhino horn will give them better sex, along with making ivory trinkets which require the killing of elephants along with the rhinos. Yes it’s cold out, it was when I was a kid and many times since.
Gary, the exponential growth of human population is overwhelming natural systems in many ways. If you concede that humans are dumping loads of plastic waste into the oceans–ergo recognizing that human activity is loading the oceans and the atmosphere with more and more heat–should not be much of a reach. Perhaps every one of us would be well advised to think beyond our own needs and contemplate the wider effects of our actions. Myself included…..