Apocalypse Now

“We are striking because we have done our homework and they have not.” -----Greta Thunberg A writer's job is to warn. Yet most writers are Cassandras. No matter how loudly or persuasively we argue, nobody listens. No matter how well we document the truth, lies will out. No matter how clearly the future reveals itself to us, the majority cling to the past. But the past belongs to the dead, not the living. I am tired of holding back, of being polite. It has accomplished nothing. The choir knows who I am. No one else seems to want to hear, and that's too bad. Contrary opinions no longer have value in America. And yet, science speaks, and the Earth, our home, speaks even louder. We have passed the tipping point. No one wants to say it, but just look around. Fires, floods, famine, pandemics: the apocalypse is now. The plagues of Egypt are upon us, but no one gets a “pass over.” Meanwhile we argue over masks and social distancing and whether or not college football should start up. We are currently facing a time when millions of people across the planet will be turned into refugees, not by war or political upheaval, but encroaching salt water. The ice is melting. We cannot turn back the clock. We must prepare. Fix it? Sorry, Greta, but it's already too late. Last year, the fires in Australia killed an estimated one billion living things. The Amazon rain forest, the “lungs of the world,” faces a continuous onslaught of willful deforestation. The past decade was the hottest on record, and 2019 the hottest year ever since people began keeping track. The west coast of America is buring out of control with massive fires for the fourth year in a row. In fact, the seven most devastating fires in California history have taken place during this time. 2020's fires are by far the worst ever. The tropical storm naming game ran out of names in mid-September, going to Greek letters of the alphabet and already at Beta, while one storm thought dormant has re-emerged into a “zombie storm” heading toward Portugal. Even Covid-19 can't slow down climate change. Donald Trump says, “you just watch, it'll get cooler,” and he may be right. All this heat and ice melt will. Ironically, will lead to a new Ice Age. While Mankind stumbles around with its words and its penchant for standing still, Gaia has other ideas. Gaia is on the move. It won't be Waterworld. But it won't be an easy place we pass on to you, Greta, or my lovely grandchildren. We are down to Darwin or die. Evolve or expire. Adapt or drown. The truth is patient. You can outshout it. You can bury it under a mountain of lies. In the end, though, it will reveal itself even if there are no more human beings left to hear it. Adults, are you listening? “You must unite behind the science. You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up can never be an option.” -----Greta Thunberg