What's The Story

 We just finished an audiobook about an author with writer's block. Writer's block is fiction. If you think you have writer's block, you may write about writer's block. So, of course, you are never blocked. You may get tired of writing and take a break; but there is always a story waiting, even if it's just about being tired of writing. Whatever the story, it is a door opening onto experience, understanding, passion, imagination, the being and belonging and becoming that writers and readers share.

So in the last note, I didn't complain about writer's block. I told you what was going on when I was tired of writing, about misplacing my wallet, and how that alerted me to my vulnerability as a user of credit cards and my ineptitude at protecting myself from credit predators. The story is, if you didn't notice, an example of a human dilemma: while taking care of ourselves, we are exposed to unintended dangerous consequences of our actions. Being aware of this, we have options.

(1) Tolerate the danger and continue enjoying the benefits of our choices, like I will not give up my credit cards.

(2) Adapt to the threat, like I check online daily to detect and report fraudulent purchases on my credit cards. 

(3) Mitigate the threat, like I use cash when I can.

I didn't fool you. You are so smart. You knew that I'm just sneaking in another rant about climate change. The credit card dilemma is a metaphor for the irresponsible use of fossil fuels. We pay the minimum, accumulate a carbon dioxide debt, and are charged interest in the form of drought, floods, heat domes, wildfires, monster storms, and so on; but we have no intention of covering the entire cost. We are going to max-out our credit..., because we can. Cheap fuel is more important than an obscure threat in some remote future. And so we are on our way to bankruptcy.

By burning carbon, we have exceeded the capacity of the global ecosystem to recapture carbon through photosynthesis and other mechanisms. The debt goes unpaid, accumulating and altering the climate more rapidly than living things can adapt and evolve. There is still a chance to mitigate (slow or reverse) the damage. Failure to mitigate will result in the collapse of the biosphere. This is not an opinion. It is mathematics.

Just to make it clear (because we may not be as smart as I hope we are), there are three responses to the threat of accumulating carbon dioxide emissions.

(1) Ignore and perish
(2) Adapt and perish more slowly
(3) Mitigate while paying down the debt and perhaps survive awhile longer.

One last thought:
the future is conditional.
We have a say in what happens next.

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Climate Change Demands More Than Thoughts, Prayers and Excuses: Aaron Wherry, CBC, August 17, 2024.

Fossil Fuel Deniers in Politics Hurt Everyone: David Suzuki and Ian Hannington, August 15, 2024

How Governments Are Preparing For Extreme Heat: Julia-Simone Rutgers, The Narwhal, August 2, 2024

Carbon Removal: CTV News, July 26, 2024

Wind Power in Ontario: Mike Crawley, CBC August 19, 2024

The Most Effective Climate Policies: Emily Chung, CBC August 22, 2024