The current situation
If your Monday needs a little something extra, here’s a thought to ponder.
I’m in Montreal, enjoying a rare phenomenon: a day with windchills of -30°C, snowflakes stinging the eyes, as parents drag their kids to school on mini sleds, swaddled in blue puffy snowsuits like adorable burritos. Such winter days used to be the norm across much of North America and Asia; now, they’re often remarkable. (And the news is flooded with people saying this proves climate change is a myth. Ugh.)
This week marks an important milestone. It’s been 50 years since the first U.S. presidential address on the impact of climate change due to excessive carbon dioxide emissions.
Can you believe it? 50 years!
I had no clue! (This is yet another reason to sign up for the daily “Above the Fold” email from Environmental Health News. It’s full of great insights.)
“Air pollution is no longer limited to remote areas,” said Johnson shortly after his 1965 inauguration. “This generation has changed the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a continuous rise in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.”
I do like fossil fuels. We can burn rocks! We can transform underground gases into phones, chairs, keyboards, glasses, dentures, warm snow suits, and nerf footballs. We’re pretty impressive. The issue, of course, is that we rely on it too heavily. It’s unfortunate to see one species, among millions, altering the experience of every single square inch of our planet. But hey, at least we’re doing something with that fuel, right?
