Killer: Climate Change

Killer: Climate Change

Are we really so self-centered and tribal that we will drive our species into extinction? Absent a last ditch effort to react to climate change it certainly seems that way.

I believe that humanity is at a tipping point where we must learn to live more cooperatively and less adversarial if we are to continue to evolve into something that will be more humane across the different nationalities and economic interests.

Adversity between tribes has come naturally to us from the time we were creatures that competed for food and shelter. It takes little imagination or observation to see how that survival technique has become more and more deadly until we have reached the point where a misstep could jeopardize the success of humanity. In my lifetime we have been focused on the ability to use weapons of mass destruction for extinction but now we are faced with a much deadlier enemy and one that will necessarily require international cooperation to defeat. We have allowed our desire for wealth and power to poison the habitat in which we evolved and we are so reluctant to give up the advantage we possess that we may rival the lemmings on their march to the cliff.

Climate change can no longer be ignored nor can it be stopped. The easy solutions were available decades ago and now their time has passed. Now there are only hard decisions and we are still mired in denial and selfishness. Even the average person who lives in an area where the cycles of nature are observable can testify to the inexorable creep of change but now that creep threatens to turn into a tsunami that can overwhelm us and leave us without access to the most basic of necessities.

I want to assure you that the planet does not require our presence to survive. Our planet, this garden of Eden in the vastness of the universe, has the ability to do what is necessary to survive. If the end were to come in a blinding flash of light as the end-timers profess it might not be so bad but it likely will leave dwindling numbers of people here to suffer until our humanity is no longer visible.

I am a gardener, it is a joy of mine to put stuff in the dirt and watch it grow into food that serves to sustain it. One thing that does is it allows me to be a little bit in tune with the cycles of nature. If I can't grow a garden we won't starve. At least not for now but those farmers who work to feed their own families and the rest of the world are able to observe the cycles of nature far better than I am. Unpredictable weather patters are able to disrupt the production of food and any student of economics understands that a shortage creates higher demand and higher demand increases prices. How long will the poor and the dwindling middle class be able to afford to eat? The wealthy will be OK until most of the rest of us are gone then all the stocks and bonds in the world will be useless.

A few years ago agreement on where to start seemed possible but the President of the most powerful country in the world and the world's breadbasket said that he didn't believe the science and terminated our participation. Without the participation of the United States dealing with climate change can't proceed because we are either the first or second largest consumer of energy in the world.

There are consequences to climate change that we haven't even realized yet and the consequences are beginning to happen. Coastal cities are experiencing flooding at high tides and some island nations are being threatened with annihilation. Weather events are becoming more frequent and severe and the cost of dealing with them is rising. Our military rates climate change as one of the most severe threats facing our country and is taking steps to reduce the effects on its ability to perform.

Life is a constant search for resources, natural and otherwise. Our history is littered with examples of how the quest for resources often leads to war and more deprivation. If our country is deprived how long will it be before we think of using our military to procure them? Let me tell you an open secret. We are already doing it by using national wealth to ensure that trade with countries that supply us remains unfettered. A current example is our competition with the Chinese whose needs are rapidly increasing. The Chinese are students of history and are well aware of how the United States sought to deprive Japan of natural resources prior to World War II. All countries exercise whatever power they have to procure needs.

Now, from my ivory tower I want you to consider the resources that would be available to humanity if we worked cooperatively. This is what is going to have to happen for humanity to survive existence on this planet long enough to be able to reach a habitable place among the stars. Humanity can't survive forever on this planet but it can surely shorten that span with conflict.

The argument that we most often hear is that the cost of dealing with climate change will be hard on our economy and I wont dispute that one bit but cooperation instead of conflict could drastically reduce that cost. Yes, economic systems will have to change but when the alternative is considered that may not be too bad a choice.

Make no mistake. My Take is we ARE going to deal with climate change. The manner in which we deal with it us up to us. Denial in the face of overwhelming science is ignorance.