Pass the Kleenex

The last time I visited the doctor, she asked me to walk a straight line. I knew I was about to fail the test but I gave it a try because that was what I was there for. She reassured me that my wobbly gait was about normal for my age...meaning I'm about to join the geezers wearing bibs and falling asleep while watching talk shows.

I'm sort-of normal at the moment, but that does not mean things are OK. At some point I will probably be in trouble, and by then, whatever I do, it won't help much. Today's news says I should quit ultra-processed foods because they aren't good for the brain. Maybe chips. But chocolate? Normal ain't so bad ! Pass the chocolate.

I'm getting more normal day by day, which makes this the perfect metaphor to distinguish our discomfort with the way things are from our anxiety that we might put a foot wrong going forward.

The climate emergency is like that. Although there is good information available from a variety of reliable sources, all of it is somewhat uncertain. The uncertainty should not be reassuring. There is a chance things will be much worse than the most likely predictions, and we should make efforts to improve the odds of a better future while preparing for the worst as we stumble into trouble. 

The climate emergency is due to us people willfully ignoring the long term cost of our actions just because we can. Now, to survive, we have to pay the price of a century of GHG emissions, which have increased globally from 1922 to 2022 by a factor of five. Going forward, we are adding more than 50 billion tonnes of GHG (as CO2 equivalent) to our outstanding debt every year. We are simply unable at present to undo the damage that continues to accumulate. As a result, the new normal is more wildfires, droughts, monster storms, heat domes, bleaching of coral reefs, loss of biodiversity, famine, coastal flooding, conflict, mass migration.

So, how can we do the right things now to improve our chances in the future?

****************

35 Plausible Threats: Peter Simonjic, CBC News, May  21, 2024

Global Economy or Climate Emergency: Just Have a Think, May 12, 2024

Igniting the Great Global Transformation: David Suzuki and Ian Hanington, April 18, 2024

Carbon Capture and Storage: Just Have a Think, January 2024.

Emissions Gap Report for 2023: UNEP

****************

Didn't want to know all that. Maybe I'll give up something. But just now, it's time for a nap. What's on, Barrymore or Winfrey? Pass the Kleenex. We got drool here.

****************

Seriously, let's give up something.