(no subject)
Reading old New Yorkers can be dangerous to your peace of mind. For instance, this series I just read from April and May 2005.
The work, "The Climate of Man" was written by Elizabeth Kolbert, and reading it left me truly anxious about our changing climate. The worries of 5 years ago are still present today, the denial and refusal to act to mitigate the coming crisis remains - and time rolls on.
Along with the by now usual story of climate change and man-made emissions, she writes of civilizations like Akkad, which collapsed suddenly because of drought, prolonged and complete drought. It happened to the Maya, it happened in Egypt. Of course, they weren't contributing to the catastrophe as we are, but they are examples of how climate change can evaporate an entire city, culture, empire. What is happening, what can it do to us, what is to be done - the article examines each question.
I live on the coast, I depend on the rest of the country - no, the rest of the world - to grow my food and provide me with all the necessities and delights of my life. The thought of radical weather changes sets me thinking of a farm in the Catskills, subsistence farming, and a great struggle to simply go on.
A part of me wants to hang on as long as I can to witness what happens - stark curiosity. A part of me wants to DO SOMETHING - aside from the individual behaviors that I can adopt to do my part. And a part of me is simply scared that we might be ruining our only home with something called 'progress'.
A little intense, I guess.
The work, "The Climate of Man" was written by Elizabeth Kolbert, and reading it left me truly anxious about our changing climate. The worries of 5 years ago are still present today, the denial and refusal to act to mitigate the coming crisis remains - and time rolls on.
Along with the by now usual story of climate change and man-made emissions, she writes of civilizations like Akkad, which collapsed suddenly because of drought, prolonged and complete drought. It happened to the Maya, it happened in Egypt. Of course, they weren't contributing to the catastrophe as we are, but they are examples of how climate change can evaporate an entire city, culture, empire. What is happening, what can it do to us, what is to be done - the article examines each question.
I live on the coast, I depend on the rest of the country - no, the rest of the world - to grow my food and provide me with all the necessities and delights of my life. The thought of radical weather changes sets me thinking of a farm in the Catskills, subsistence farming, and a great struggle to simply go on.
A part of me wants to hang on as long as I can to witness what happens - stark curiosity. A part of me wants to DO SOMETHING - aside from the individual behaviors that I can adopt to do my part. And a part of me is simply scared that we might be ruining our only home with something called 'progress'.
A little intense, I guess.