Paradigm shifts and a thought-provoking graphic novel--

More rain.

I suspect people in the flooded and devastated areas are not too excited about the prospect of yet more rain. We had a quick deluge yesterday that certainly dumped a huge amount in short time. It's tropical. 

Any head-in-sand responses to climate change are not welcome. We are in a whole new era. The word that designates our current geologic epoch is anthropocene, which is defined as "the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment."

This new period of geologic "time" began roughly in the 1950s, although I'd posit that the roots of this effect began with the rise of the Industrial Age. Add to that a few paradigm shifts, and here we are. If one wants to use the Bible as a basis (risky, I know), when God gave mankind dominion over the plants, animals, etc., it was to be good stewards of creation. Not exploiters and pillagers. I think we missed the memo.

So, as I said, here we are. It may even be too late to fix things, but we have to try. We have to be willing, as a human community, to do the hard things, not just minor inconveniences. I suspect very few people would be willing to do so, though, and that makes me sad. We have made our bed, so to speak, and now we have to deal with it: turbulent weather, hot, dry, overly wet and flooding, frozen-- immoderate weather patterns that will force us to comply. Food shortages are a very real threat. Health problems are a very real threat. In short, human activity in just two generations has threatened life on this planet, at least the life systems that sustain humans.

I'm reading a graphic novel right now titled Thoreau and Me by Cedric Taling. In the text/graphics, the main character is confronted by a personal existential crisis: he is very troubled by so many of the things that make our human systems unsustainable. He is visited by the ghostly presence of Thoreau, whose writings discuss the possible problems that mankind will face-- almost prophetic. As I said, I think this anthropocene epoch truly began about 100 years before 1950; that would put it squarely in Thoreau's neighborhood. He is a sort of guide to the main character, who tries to engage his friends and acquaintances in true thoughts about the challenges we face today. What we see in the novel is that people are willing to talk about the challenges and issues, but few are willing to do anything --if anything can be done-- to effect systemic change. 

Sobering, to say the least. 

Stay dry, folks.

C