Hello everyone,
With 2026 already regarded as one of the hottest periods in recorded world weather history, the number of people acknowledging that it’s all down to global warming is growing. It can’t be delayed for a future generation to solve because we are the generation that is supposed to sort it out. The question now is: have we left it too late to do enough?
Traditionally, mankind has always preferred to decide that something will be another generation’s worry rather than our own. Usually, there’s a presumption that some discovery will come along, wipe the slate clean and allow us to go back to the way we were living before. As we have discovered this year, that isn’t likely to work out well.
Even with the rise in temperature, different parts of the world have different levels of humidity, which changes how people experience the heat. A dry heat is generally more tolerable than one accompanied by high humidity simply because organic bodies, that’s you, by the way, can’t shed their heat so efficiently. Hence, the British Isles can end up with an uncomfortable combination that isn’t quite the same as the summer of 1976. We also have to adapt to these new conditions rather than simply assume that a traditional 9-to-5 working day will always provide the best conditions.
Adapting is all very well, but it isn’t really a solution. There is no magic wand to wave the problem away. The only realistic forecast is that things are going to get worse, with all kinds of changing weather conditions across the world. Wildfires will get worse. So will sudden flooding caused by melting glaciers and extreme rainfall. I hate saying this, but events like these are bound to happen in other parts of the world.
People everywhere need to take a serious look at where they live and evaluate the potential dangers in all seasons, whether from excessive heat, wildfires or flooding. I doubt everyone can simply move, but precautions can be made, even if it’s only creating a firebreak, protecting vulnerable utilities or improving insulation against extreme temperatures.
Even then, it won’t be enough. The continued burning of gas, petrol and other fossil fuels adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Problems such as damage to the ozone layer are separate from global warming, although they demonstrate rather well that human activity can alter the atmosphere on a planetary scale. If anything, education needs to do more to remind upcoming generations to understand this responsibility and vow to do better than we ever managed.
They might look back at us with despair as the world changes around them, but they might not have any better ideas about what to do or how to make improvements last for generations.
Man is a creature of habit, so perhaps it’s more a case of establishing new habits that are economical and from which people can see some benefit. It’s one of those occasions where the resolve of the individual can have an effect collectively, providing enough of us are moving in the same direction.
It won’t happen overnight. Ecological change will take decades to address, but it has to start somewhere, and now is better than later. Some species will probably adapt to changing circumstances, but many will not. Where humans will be on this map, who can say? We probably won’t become extinct because there are too many of us spread across the planet, but climate change could certainly reduce our numbers and make life considerably harder unless we do something.
Global warming is overwhelmingly a human-created problem. It demonstrates our incompetence at taking things from the planet without sufficiently considering what we put back into it. As a galactic issue, and therefore still within our remit here, this is probably one of the ways sentient species on other planets could become extinct. Instead of being a one-off, we might simply become another statistic of lost sentients and not even be missed in our passing.
Even if we can eventually colonise another planet, will we have learnt from our mistakes? The pessimist in me thinks we’ll forget and do it all over again. For a sentient species, we do tend to come across as a bit stupid.
Although I’m not sure that total abstinence from every activity with a carbon footprint is possible, I do think it’s more realistic to plan reductions by thinking through the choices available. In some ways, global warming itself is changing some of those choices. Why holiday abroad, unless it’s for a cooler climate, when it’s just as hot in your own country? It reduces aeroplane use and puts money into the home economy.
In many respects, even allowing for the decades it will take, future generations will see more of the results of changes to our climate than we will. To do nothing will simply leave them with fewer choices.
Thank you, take care, good night and reduce heat.
Geoff Willmetts
editor: www.SFCrowsnest.info
A Zen thought: Life only happens once.
What Qualities Does A Geek Have: Have I said being observant?
The Reveal: There is always some eclipse happening to the Earth.
Computer Observation: For PC users, whenever Windows 11 updates lately, the anti-virus software or password manager icon can vanish from the browser. Rather than hunting around for how to get it back, choose ‘Extensions’, then ‘Installed Extensions’, find the one you need and flip the switch back on, such as Norton Password Manager. Quite why the setting has to be turned back on when so many others don’t need to be reactivated beats me.
Observation: I’m puzzled why the Jedi Order thinks of itself as a noble order when its members use its most deadly weapon, the lightsabre, to chop people up. Well, maybe it cauterises the wounds so there is no blood.
Feeling Stressed: Just think, we have autumn, winter and then a repeat of this year’s weather. Stress away.
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