A Bit About Climate Change

Climate change – I wish more people were worried about it.

First and foremost, it’s important to know weather and climate are two different things. Weather is short term. Climate is long term. To help with understanding, consider parts of California have a balmy “climate”. But, when California has sporadic periods of rainy days, that is “weather”. A single snowstorm is weather. Years and years of experiencing all four seasons is climate.

Secondly, there is additional confusion over the terms “climate change” and “global warming”. When scientists say “global warming” people mentally picture their neighborhood looking like the Sahara desert. And that is part of it, for already warm sections of the Earth.

Think of it this way, global warming makes extremes more chaotic. All that heat trapped in our atmosphere turbocharges hurricanes. If it is already difficult to grow food where you live, it will get even harder. Glaciers and ice caps, which normally stay frozen, are melting like you plopped ‘em in your lemonade on the hottest day of the summer. Objects that are hot get even hotter. Folks aren’t supposed to end up in the hospital with major burns if they pass out in a parking lot. (That happened this year.)

Trying to understand all of this, the thing to remember is all of our environmental systems are connected. It resembles the systems in our own bodies.

Let’s say, one chilly day, you put on a light jacket. The zipper gets jammed and you can’t take the silly jacket off. Of course, on chilly days, you’ll feel just right because things are working the way they should. However, along comes summer and the situation changes. You’re too hot. You start to sweat. You lose too much water from the sweating. You begin to dehydrate. Warning bells are going off all over the place. Systems are failing. Then, you start to feel sick. You pass out. (Better hope it’s not on that scalding hot concrete!)

That stuck jacket started a chain reaction. Your entire body was affected by it. Global warming works the same way. It mucks everything up. Greenhouse gases hang around waaaaaay up there above us and they act just like a warm coat.

Now….

Go out into nature.

Observe how easy it is to mess things up.

A sudden downpour can cause temporary flooding. In the deluge, a group of fish washes downstream, getting stranded in a pool. It’s not so bad during the first few days. But then the pool starts to dry up. All the little fishies near the edge know what’s going on. Their world is slowly getting smaller. What they don’t realize is they are all going to….well, you know what happens to fish without water.

Little things have big effects.

Now try to tell me that all of the pollution we pump out into the world can’t do any damage.

Most folks I know wouldn’t want to be trapped in a garage with a running car. Well, the earth is our locked garage. Most of us are stuck here for good. (Except for crazy billionaires who go rocketing off into space. But even they have to come back down to earth eventually. Unfortunately.)

To save ourselves, it would be in our best interest to clear the air. ***

((Re-reading this, even though I wrote it, I thought that last sentence was going to say it would be in our best interest to clear out the billionaires. Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh. that’s a whole other post.))***

Now, I know a good portion of folks will say this is all “woke” nonsense. You want to keep driving your huge trucks, running to Wal-Mart and Taco Bell five times a day. Everything needs to be lit up like Christmas all the time. Eat all the meat. Shoot all the guns. WOOOHOOO and YEE-HAW!!!

My question would be, why?

Why do you want all of that stuff? To prove you’re free? Hm.

I guess it does do that. I got no problem with anyone exercising their freedom, with one huge catch. YOUR freedom shouldn’t restrict MY freedom.

I have no problem with people who legitimately need a truck. That’s fine. And, I’ll even let you define the word “need”. But...but...but why not plan your day so you can get everything done in one trip?

Ignore the thought it’s woke and, instead, think about your own inner peace. If you live just a bit smaller, you can make more time for your friends and loved ones and making memories. Yeah, it has the added benefit of helping the planet, but is that so bad? You get YOUR freedom to drive a truck, and I get MY freedom of maybe leaving a halfway decent planet for my grandkids.

Oh, and I want an option for vegan and vegetarian food because I like how some of it tastes. Yep, it’s all about an extra menu choice for me. If, in the process, we do some good for the planet, what’s the harm in that?

While we’re at it, why not turn some lights off?

Since I’m on a climate kick...did you know light and noise are pollution, too? Light can block our views of the stars and messes with the living patterns of nocturnal insects and animals. Some city kids grow up never having seen stars in the night sky. Those same kids have been subjected to intense amounts of traffic noise. Once I became aware of this, I always opt for outdoor lights that I can turn off at night. It’s a little thing I do to protect MY right to continue seeing a night sky. I’m protecting YOUR right to do that, too.

We folks on the left are maybe not the monsters you think we are...just like you folks on the right aren’t complete demons.

Everyone is trying to do what they think is best and that’s a starting point. Let’s protect some rights together instead of going at each other’s throats.

Keep in mind, I lean HARD left. Guess what?!! I don’t want to take your trucks or your meat. I won’t get into my specific policy beliefs right now, though. That’s a much longer piece of writing than I want to do today.

In short, I want thought put into how we use trucks and consume meat and such stuff.

Now, I’ll admit, some are even further to the left than me. A lot of ‘em DO go further than me. Let’s both admit we’ve got nut jobs on the extremes of both sides. Some folks on the right want people like me in jail. Or dead. Yes, extremism exists here in the good ‘ol U. S. of A.

The point to all of this rambling is….I think we need to ignore the extremists on both ends and come together somewhere in the middle.

Doing something is better than nothing. And, we’ve been doing a WHOLE LOTTA nuthin’. Let’s find the “somethings” we can accomplish and work from there. I have grand-kids, and I’d like them to be able to catch crawdads in the creek just like I did as a kid. And, watch bats swooping to catch paper-thin moths. And, go hiking behind their house without worrying the entire area will burn to the ground someday.

If you’re new to the idea of extending a helpful hand to planet Earth, it ain’t got to be all major changes and life upheavals. All that freedom means you can go slowly, if you want. Take the steps your comfortable with. Again, something is better than nothing.

There are climate doomers out there. Frighteningly, some of them have good points. Yeah. Ignore ‘em. If you listen to them, you’ll throw your hands up in the air and give up.

DON’T. DO. THAT!!

Make the changes you can make. Encourage others to do what they can to help out. We’ll never get anywhere if we’re overwhelmed or stalled out with hatred of each other.

Above all, cooperate and do what you’re comfortable doing. Then, see if you’re ready to extend the comfort level just a wee bit.

Rinse.

Repeat.