Weather.
It occurs only within the first 8.5 miles of our thin blue line of atmosphere. Like Hurricane Earl here, the weather does what it wants, when it wants, where it wants. Out of our control. Or is it?
Global warming. Climate change. Have its inhabitants affected earth's weather?
I believe Earth is billions of years old. I believe Earth's weather has gone through all sorts of cycles and changes during that time. I believe it will always go through cycles and changes that are a result and a condition of the naturally occurring geological and extraterrestrial events that have shaped our Earth and it's weather over the eons.
This year has already been extraordinary in terms of extreme weather events around the nation.
Chicago blizzard.
April tornado outbreak.
Joplin tornado.
Floods.
Drought & wildfires.
And hurricane season has just begun.
Even here in Northwest Arkansas we had a devastating tornado to a small community on New Years Eve, 20 inches of snow in one day in February, 18 degrees below zero a day later, and fifteen inches of rain in a couple of days in April.
Is all of this extreme weather a result of Earth's inhabitants' influences over the last century or so? Have we dumped so much pollution and carbon emissions into the atmosphere that Earth's inhabitants ARE affecting the weather and the health of our Earth for the first time in history? When I look at those photos from space of our thin blue line of atmosphere I can't help but worry that the answer is yes. That thin blue line appears very fragile and delicate. There is not much there to protect us. How much can it take? Can Earth's natural defenses and regenerative abilities keep the atmosphere healthy and in balance?
Or have we doomed ourselves? Only during the last century and a half of humankind's existence on Earth, during the industrial revolution and the invention of the combustible engine, have we dumped tons of poisons and pollutants into the atmosphere. How much can it take? Will future generations turn this around?
Why am I still driving an SUV with a V8 engine?
1 comment:
Great post, Daddy! I agree that the Earth is a complex place, and with that complexity surely comes changes. But we are living in a time where we are capable of damaging that balance. And also of helping it.
Post a Comment