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| It's hard to believe that a whole decade has passed since we walked through Tempe with Wayne and Rusty proclaiming all the "First times of the new century" as we went. Everyone was still alive then: my mother, my uncle, Ananda (my dog) and most especially Michael. I'm glad they got to see the century turn. For each one who had to leave us in the intervening years, a new one has been born -- not to replace anyone because that is just not possible, but to shine on the world in their own special way; to love us and be loved by us. For me, these were the years when everything changed.
That's the same way with the new year then, and the new decade -- different from the prior ones, but each with it's own strengths and challenges that make it worth living through. I'm looking forward to the upcoming year and to the upcoming decade. In a very profound way, I've waited for my whole life for these moments that are happening now. May they bring strength and joy and peace to all of us.
Happy New Year!
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| Inspired by my upcoming Geology exam:
Given:
1. Milankovitch theory: (much simplified) minor irregularities in Earth’s rotation and orbit are sufficient to alter the amount of solar radiation received at any given latitude and hence bring about climate changes. My understanding is that we are supposed to be approaching a point where an ice age would be triggered.
2. Peak Oil: US maximum oil production peaked in the 1970s and world maximum oil production is peaking now, plus or minus a couple of years; to be followed by period of decline and then cease.
3. Global Warming: The fact that all the ice caps and glaciers of the world are now melting at a very fast rate not seen in thousands of years does prove that the climate is currently warming even though it doesn't explain why. We are pretty certain it's the increased carbon in the atmosphere though.
4. Mass Extinctions: Mass extinctions have occurred at intervals throughout our planet's 4.5 billion year history (at the ends of the Devonian, the Permian and the Cretaceous), and by all counts one seems to be occurring now to rival the one at the end of the Permian. After each extinction, there were survivors who flourished and diversified in the new conditions, including the ancestor of the hominids.
Then:
If we truly are giving credence to the Milankovitch theory, and know that the amount of carbon we can put into the atmosphere for warming is reaching it's limit because the oil will soon run out, should we be spending so much effort on limiting the carbon emissions (rather than letting them protect us from the ice age) and spend more of it instead on sheltering ourselves and our agricultural species (both plant and animal) from the mass extinction instead?
Could the increased carbon of our atmosphere really protect us from an ice age that is caused by the combination of earth's tilt and increased distance from the sun? Or will the warming go too far and change the face of the planet to something that does not nurture humans? The cyanobacteria performed a similar change to the planet eons ago by putting oxygen into an atmosphere that had previously held none. Many species died. Cyanobacteria survived even up until today.
How would we go about ensuring the survival of species near and dear to us like wheat, rice, beans, squash, poultry, cattle, dogs, cats, fish, humans ...? Can we put "back ups" into space like the huge orbiting forests from Silent Running or on the moon where we now know there's water? Or floating on the ocean in huge closed greenhouse spheres?
And has it occurred to anyone out there that it is completely unnecessary to wait for "Everyone" to agree? Our society can go though radical changes without any pre-planning or consensus at all -- just think about the technology revolution of the last 30 years with computers and communication to understand that. While the angry ones are all still calling each other names, someone smart is already busy hedging their bets for the future by implementing improvements and innovations.
Somewhere out there, this very discussion is going on. I only wish I knew where I could listen in on it.
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| Anyone know what happened to Stixandstonz' blog? I hope everything is okay -- during the busy-busy semester, I miss things that are going on here at Xanga. Seems to be less and less.
Good thoughts and love to all of you who are and have been part of my Xanga experience over the years.
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| "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect intended us to forgo their use."
Galileo Galilei Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002) | | |
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