Some might feel unconcerned at the recent research suggesting that global warming will lead to increased hurricane intensity in the years to come. “After all,” they might think, “I don’t live on the Gulf Coast or anywhere near the Atlantic, so what’s the problem?”
Well, I don’t live in those places either. I live in central Ohio, for Pete’s sake. Nonetheless we got hit by the winds of Hurricane Ike yesterday, and they’re telling us that we will be out of power for 4 days. The impact of climate will reach far.
Oh, is that all? Loss of power for a few days? The path that we’re on – with NO ONE talking about a GLOBAL effort to change anything in the short term to ameliorate conditions WAY down the road (well, they seemed way down the road at one time, now its been stated as being within the next 100 years) – is that large scale food production will be crippled due to erratic weather, and that the ability of the oceans to sustain the billions who feed on her daily will come to an end.
Be thankful for a few days without power and see what kind of community organizer you can be – stop in on your neighbors and see if everyone’s okay, maybe organize a street-wide barbecue using what’s in everyone’s freezers (to avoid having to throw it all out). Make it fun.