Thinking About Antarctica

One of my most-visted posts August 4, 2023 quotes Graham Readfearn at The Guardian, July 29, 2023, and others, "[In Antarctica] an area bigger than Mexico has failed to freeze, worrying scientists." Jess Thomson reported at newsweek.com July 26, 2023, "Eliot Jacobson, a retired professor of mathematics and computer science, using data from Japan's National Institute of Polar Research" noted, the recent Antarctic melt is "about a 1-in-2.7[million] year event."

I am grateful to Amsterdam Quarterly for publishing my poem about Antarctica in the September 2023 issue which I hope doesn't come true. 

I also had a poem in their Autumn 2016 issue on Climate (Change), a poem in May 2014 called "Of Whales and the Hinckley Hunt on Christmas Eve, 1818," and a poem in September 2013 called "At Lake Absarraca" about rewilding buffalo and elk.

My favorite recent climate article is "A climate of the unthinkable on a burning Earth" by Andrew Y. Glikson October 26, 2023 at arctic-news.blogspot.com. I also appreciate the article he noted about Antarctic ecologist Dana Bergstrom and others silenced and/or punished for speaking. That article at abc.net.au/news notes, "Ecologists and climate scientists have told the ABC of a widespread culture of suppression and self-censorship. [par break] Sometimes it’s insidious, driven by the fear of losing funding or contracts. [par break] Sometimes it’s overt, through active gagging or academic careers being threatened. [par break] All of that for attempting to 'speak the truth' about environmental damage, ecosystem collapse and climate change."

I recently told a group where I was invited to speak that watching University of Manchester professor Kevin Anderson interview Johan Rockström, co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, made me grateful to be a climate poet because "Rockström seemed restrained by his position, but a poet is free of what I call The Four Horsemen of Distraction: stakeholders, funding sources, constituencies, and agendas."

Cain and Abel

Other Christians and I were discussing what a climate sermon would be. At first, I suggested the story of Gideon which shows how a small group of committed people make all the difference when supported by God. Later, I thought the story of Cain and Abel may be better. I mean Cain did not give his best gifts to God, while Abel did. Out of jealousy, Cain killed Abel.

Genesis 4:9 notes, "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?'

'I don’t know,' he replied. 'Am I my brother’s keeper?'"

Genesis 4:10 notes, "The Lord said, 'What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. [ . . . . ]'"

Regarding the climate emergency, the story of Cain and Abel is important for two reasons. First, are we giving our best gifts to God to reduce suffering? Second, we are our brother's keeper. Specifically, Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and one of the Pope's climate advisors, noted in a 2018 meeting I attended, "It would take $450 per person per year in the top one billion people to change from our carbon economy to renewables" saving over 3 billion people that may otherwise die from exposure to 130 degree [54.4 Celsius] plus heat 30 years from now if humans fail to convert energy sources from coal and fossil fuels to "solar, wind, hydro, and possibly nuclear. [ . . . . ]" Based on what Ramanathan said in 2018, we now have 5 to 10 years "to solve the problem."

Rumi said, "God is the only real customer."

Art for Global Political Leaders Before COP28

Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya  (1746–1828) 

The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

Wiki notes Goya, extremely frustrated with political leaders of his time, secretly painted this on a wall in his house. It's obvious since James Hansen's U.S. Senate climate testimony 35 years ago, global political leaders have been "devouring" their children, and yours.

Hansen was later quoted, "Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet. . . . the dirtiest trick that governments play on their citizens is that they are working for ‘clean coal.’ . . .The trains carrying coal to power plants are death trains. Coal-fired power plants are factories of death."

Similarly, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, noted in my August 25, 2018 post, "In Germany we should focus everything on the phase out of coal." Recent reports show now is a good time to phase out coal, and all fossil fuels, everywhere as soon as possible.

Climate Story

I ran Climate Conversations for professors and students two years at one of the colleges where I taught. In one meeting I tried to make it simple. I said, "It's like we're on a plane that pilots will crash into a cliff [unless they get political clearance to land which seems unlikely]. There are some parachutes, but not enough for most people."

"I don't like your airplane story," a professor challenged, adding something like, "I don't see it that way at all. I don't think we're all going to die."

"I didn't say everyone," I replied, then repeated, "There are some parachutes, but not enough for most people."

My February 23, 2020 post "Climate Lifeboats of the Rich and Famous?" explores how Earth's wealthiest, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, allegedly "bought -- then didn't buy" superyachts as they "can't go to Mars yet to escape or wait out climate chaos, [so] the sea may be the next best thing." About two years later I posted "The Last Two Men on Earth" noting, "Playing their cards right, they may be the last two surviving humans, as neurons shut down like light switches in Halloween mansions, and words fade as in flooded seaside libraries."

Unfortunately, the "cliff" in my plane story is fast approaching for those glancing up from their cell phones to look out the reality window. Crew members are telling everyone to "Calm down!" For example, U. S. Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry called UAE appointment of oil chief Sultan al-Jaber to oversee COP28 UN climate talks "a terrific choice" according to several sources. Let's see if Kerry feels that way after COP28 ends in December. 

Similary, Johan Rockström, co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in a video I posted September 19, 2023, "[ . . . . ] For an orderly phaseout [of fossil fuels] I think The Marshall Plan option is simply not an option. [ . . . . ]" Will Rockström feel that way in ten years at the end of 2033?

In contrast to Kerry and Rockström, I agree with actress Keira Knightley who imagines children asking in this short video, "The science and data were all there for everyone to see. Why didn't you stop this while you still could?" She adds, "Our governments must enter crisis mode before it's too late, urgently investing in and implementing policies to reduce carbon in the atmosphere." 

Another Extinction Rebellion video I like is by former UK police officers Rob Cooper, John Curran, and Richard Ecclestone. 

Rumi, translated by Daniel Liebert in the book RUMI - FRAGMENTS - ECSTACIES, said "[ . . . . ] don't flee across the chessboard of this world, for it is [God's] game and we are checkmate! checkmate!" In other words, it's best not to resist God and nature.

I am also grateful to Coleman Barks who in 2017 gave me permission to include his translation of Rumi's "An Empty Garlic," still one of the most-read posts here.