This is the result of a study by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Can 2,500 scientists from several nations all be wrong?
I was returning a library book the other day. Outside the library, someone had left their SUV running. There was only one patron in the library when I entered. This was no book drop.
What does it take?
Global warming or not, we Americans waste way too many resources. We’re addicted to consuming.
I include myself in this. I use less than most of my peers, colleagues and neighbors, but compared to people in other nations, my carb count is still high.
Rachel Carson must be rolling in her grave. It’s not that we don’t have choices; it’s that we have chosen to embrace wastefulness. We choose to think we are separate from other forms of life and that we can dominate it.
Global warming may be nature’s way of biting us in the butt.I am blessed. I have the option of spending daily time in nature. I don’t have the latest electronics, clothes or cultural symbols of wealth and success, but I have peace of mind.
I am fortunate to have grown up on a farm in a rural community. That life doesn’t exist any more. My dad worked one wage job while my mom ran the farm. We had one car, one TV and one phone. We had lots of time to eat dinner together, harvest and prepare vegetables from our garden, and enjoy cultural events. I was an active kid - scouts, music lessons, dance class - I don’t recall my mom (or anyone else’s) functioning as a car service. I had time to do all that, do my homework and play after school.
What’s changed? Do our gadgets really save us time? Look around. Many working people can no longer meet their needs working one job. Students no longer learn, they prepare to pass standardized tests.
I’ve been outside the mainstream loop for years. I figured that sooner or later, my colleagues, friends and neighbors would see the folly of their workaholic routine and conspicuous consumption. I was wrong.
Scientists and economists have been offered money by ExxonMobil to bury the results of this study. Do these folks really believe they can outwit nature?
I’m blessed. I see what’s coming down the road, but I’ll either be very old or dead by the time the climate will no longer support animal life. My heart breaks for all the young people who will inherit this mess.