Has there ever been a time when we humans weren’t threatened by something or another?
Whether it’s war, scary leaders, a wonky economy, a pandemic, floods, fire, droughts or other environmental troubles, there is always something overshadowing our lives.
What’s different now though is that so many things are going wrong at the same time. Half the world is at war, people are mad at each other and protesting all over the place, our leaders aren’t coping, crime rates are climbing, our economy is shaky, the elements are attacking us from all sides, we can’t trust anything.
The weather is on most minds these days, it’s impossible to ignore it.
There used to be a saying “Bad weather belongs to the poor” because those with a few dollars could head for pleasanter climates. Not anymore – unpleasantness is hitting the pleasant places too.
Some say it’s a cycle, the bad weather will pass. Others believe the climate is changing. I’m one of the “others.”
Scientists have been predicting this for years, and when they’ve been wrong it’s usually that their timing was off. Change really is happening. Records are being broken everywhere, every day.
There was another saying, “Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.”
Well, that was wrong, because we humans created many of today’s environmental disasters without even realizing –or caring –what we were doing.
Logging practices have upset the nature of things, mining and other resource industries have polluted, often poisoned, water systems and the air, and even our devotion to motor vehicles mucks things up.
We have a lot to answer for.
The question is, what do we do about it? Do we adapt to living with the turmoil? Find another planet to mess up? Protest? Complain? Blame the government? Or mend our ways?
READ MORE: ‘Difficult days’: B.C. may be facing worst wildfire conditions of the summer
READ MORE: BREAKING: Evacuation orders, local state of emergency in effect due to West Kelowna wildfire
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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