We should enjoy it while we exist.
I’ve been a Wisconsin Book Festival devotee in the last 24 hours, and it’s been great!
Well, great and unsettling. Saw Gwynne Dyer talk about Climate Wars at the Central Library last night, and all of the scenarios presented were apocalyptic. In the last five years, the militaries of most developed countries have been planning for what happens when the average global temperature rises 2 degrees Celsius -the point of no return for massive planetary change, as in sea levels rising a meter or two, covering many island nations. Deserts and famine in the subtropics (such as CALIFORNIA and TEXAS). Failed states, wars over water.
Our military knows this is coming-it did when our president was a climate change denier, and it certainly knows now. The entire Mexico border could be closed at any time today, but it’s largely left open. But there is an emergency plan to deploy the entire military to keep out essentially all of Mexico, made refugees due to climate change. That border could be air-tight, or as Dyer said, “An iron curtain? We know how to do that.” But it would mean our military shooting at and killing refugees, though, which is awfully unpopular politically. Now.
It’s coming, and it doesn’t HAVE to. But the political system is fucked and obstructionist now, so we’re not cutting back on energy waste and excess….
So our government is researching and investing in geoengineering, assuming that even though we could turn climate change around, we won’t cut back in time. The oceans are going to boil and give off too much carbon dioxide, so we’re trying to find ways to change this when it almost inevitably happens. We could clog the atmosphere with dust or seawater, to deflect the sun’s rays and buy ourselves 20 more years to take this shit seriously and cut back on waste.
Geoengineering is invasive, and raises all kinds of ethical dilemmas. We’ve messed with the planet to cause temperature rise and climate change, and now we’re going to upset it further to keep ourselves alive. But for our military and government, irrevocable climate disasters are a foregone conclusion.
(Did you know that if every roof and street in the world was painted white, the global temp would drop 1 degree C due to the reflection of the sun’s rays? Hearing that news was possibly the lightest moment of the evening. Well, that and hearing that Wisconsin is a pretty great place to be to wait out climate changes, actually-no coasts, fresh water. Arable soil. So maybe I will survive the apocalypse? Peej, YOU should move HERE.)
It’s also insanely depressing to realize that while most pollution comes from the Global North, it is the Global South that will suffer the worst.
… No further words for that one.
Somehow got to sleep last night, sheesh. Woke up early this morning for the farmers market, then went to the Ask a Publisher/Ask an Editor: How Do "They" Work? panel. The panelists were all fascinating, and diverse. Robert Wolf publishes anthologies about Americans living in different regions, and the disconnect many people feel. The folks he publishes otherwise have no literary ambitions. KD Wolff owns a publishing house in Germany, which specializes in new editions or translations of classic German authors. Gina Frangello represented the publishing world I am most familiar with-indie presses and short story literary magazines.
I always get intimidated by other writers or industry reps, though, and my small press publications this year seemed less impressive. (They seemed ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS last night when I realized the human race is making itself extinct, so I guess “less impressive” is a step up.)
After that, went to maybe my favorite part of the festival: Zine Festival. No pretension-DIY is the rule. And maybe the activists who make this artwork really can make a change-maybe the whole world won’t be dead and under water in 50 years. Maybe zines are our only hope!
Well, at least they give the world gorgey free artwork. We should enjoy it while we exist:
Well, great and unsettling. Saw Gwynne Dyer talk about Climate Wars at the Central Library last night, and all of the scenarios presented were apocalyptic. In the last five years, the militaries of most developed countries have been planning for what happens when the average global temperature rises 2 degrees Celsius -the point of no return for massive planetary change, as in sea levels rising a meter or two, covering many island nations. Deserts and famine in the subtropics (such as CALIFORNIA and TEXAS). Failed states, wars over water.
Our military knows this is coming-it did when our president was a climate change denier, and it certainly knows now. The entire Mexico border could be closed at any time today, but it’s largely left open. But there is an emergency plan to deploy the entire military to keep out essentially all of Mexico, made refugees due to climate change. That border could be air-tight, or as Dyer said, “An iron curtain? We know how to do that.” But it would mean our military shooting at and killing refugees, though, which is awfully unpopular politically. Now.
It’s coming, and it doesn’t HAVE to. But the political system is fucked and obstructionist now, so we’re not cutting back on energy waste and excess….
So our government is researching and investing in geoengineering, assuming that even though we could turn climate change around, we won’t cut back in time. The oceans are going to boil and give off too much carbon dioxide, so we’re trying to find ways to change this when it almost inevitably happens. We could clog the atmosphere with dust or seawater, to deflect the sun’s rays and buy ourselves 20 more years to take this shit seriously and cut back on waste.
Geoengineering is invasive, and raises all kinds of ethical dilemmas. We’ve messed with the planet to cause temperature rise and climate change, and now we’re going to upset it further to keep ourselves alive. But for our military and government, irrevocable climate disasters are a foregone conclusion.
(Did you know that if every roof and street in the world was painted white, the global temp would drop 1 degree C due to the reflection of the sun’s rays? Hearing that news was possibly the lightest moment of the evening. Well, that and hearing that Wisconsin is a pretty great place to be to wait out climate changes, actually-no coasts, fresh water. Arable soil. So maybe I will survive the apocalypse? Peej, YOU should move HERE.)
It’s also insanely depressing to realize that while most pollution comes from the Global North, it is the Global South that will suffer the worst.
… No further words for that one.
Somehow got to sleep last night, sheesh. Woke up early this morning for the farmers market, then went to the Ask a Publisher/Ask an Editor: How Do "They" Work? panel. The panelists were all fascinating, and diverse. Robert Wolf publishes anthologies about Americans living in different regions, and the disconnect many people feel. The folks he publishes otherwise have no literary ambitions. KD Wolff owns a publishing house in Germany, which specializes in new editions or translations of classic German authors. Gina Frangello represented the publishing world I am most familiar with-indie presses and short story literary magazines.
I always get intimidated by other writers or industry reps, though, and my small press publications this year seemed less impressive. (They seemed ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS last night when I realized the human race is making itself extinct, so I guess “less impressive” is a step up.)
After that, went to maybe my favorite part of the festival: Zine Festival. No pretension-DIY is the rule. And maybe the activists who make this artwork really can make a change-maybe the whole world won’t be dead and under water in 50 years. Maybe zines are our only hope!
Well, at least they give the world gorgey free artwork. We should enjoy it while we exist: