I admit I am a bit of a weather geek. To witness nature's fury and our powerlessness in its face is truly humbling. However, the other reason for my fascination with our increasingly volatile and destructive weather is the rueful recognition of our collective refusal to make any changes that might mitigate the worst effects of climate change. If given the option of sacrifice (losing some convenience, changing our lifestyle, taming our bloodlust for beef, paying higher prices for energy, etc.) or enduring the destructive force of climate change, it seems that for almost everyone, both leaders and the led, the choice is lamentably clear.
We get what we deserve:
Most Americans (and Canadians alike) want their government to do everything possible to fend off climate change provided that they don't have to pay for it. They tend to view the "cost" of climate change response as a tax issue, ignoring the enormous costs of loss, dislocation, even death. That doesn't seem to matter much unless you're the one afflicted.
ReplyDeleteThe greater problem is that many people see the major adaptation and carbon reduction options as principally benefitting another generation which, because they can't put faces or names to these unborn, they're less than real.
We have lost sight of each generation's role and responsibility as part of an ongoing society. We pay no heed to the powerful role our ancestors played in shaping the community in which we live today. That those ancestors respected posterity and incorporated that in their planning and activities is utterly lost to us.
It was years ago, perhaps 15-20, that Bill Moyers did a multi-part series on posterity that explored its existence and how it operated in the past and how, around the 70s it was abandoned as a policy factor. His experts optimistically predicted it would have returned by now but, as we can see, not at all.
An incisive analysis, Mound. Our short-sighted collective egocentrism will be the doom of us and our descendants.
DeleteThere was a reason why our parents earned the moniker "The Greatest Generation," Lorne. They made decisions which considered our welfare of paramount importance.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that value seems to have largely died with their passing, Owen.
DeleteSpeaking of severe weather impacts, Lorne, for three months I've been following developments across the arc from India to Vietnam. The problems developed from drought and heatwaves, a double whammy that has now reached unprecedented levels. Everyone is hanging on by their fingertips but there's no relief in sight. Unrest is beginning to flare in Bangladesh, India, Thailand. Burma, Cambodia and Laos are reeling. Hard to say how this is going to end. You can find a summary here:
ReplyDeletehttp://mashable.com/2016/04/29/asia-heat-wave-india/#opVP.byOomqw
Thanks, Mound. I'll check it out right away.
DeleteI just checked it out, Mound. It is deeply disturbing both in what it denotes and its larger implications, and the accompanying photography is stunning and equally disturbing.
DeleteWhat we may see here, Lorne, is another example of how climate change impacts can exacerbate other pre-existing sources of instability, the straw that broke the camel's back sort of thing. That appears to be what triggered the Syrian civil war.
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