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.