DOES GLOBAL WARMING REALLY MATTER?

That is possibly a strange question to ask, particularly as the body of opinion seems to be as equally divided about the global warming issue as it is about politics – or should we say, ‘other issues of politics’.

But in the middle of a discussion with someone dear, I had one of those personal moments of illumination.  Thinking over the past few weeks of this year of horrific drought and fire and flood and storm, and keeping in mind those same problems in the last few years, and holding those situations up against my dear one’s doubts about whether we are indeed dealing with climate change or a brutal, multi-year cycle, it occurred to me that maybe everyone is right.  Maybe climate change is going on, and maybe a lot of it is cyclic, and maybe it actually doesn’t matter what the cause, or causes, is or are. 

Because in all of these events, just like all other events in human lives, what matters  more may be what we are going to do about it all.  Maybe we need, or at least a majority of us needs, to simply look at one of those photos of earth taken from space.  You know, the ones that show our lovely planet floating out here in aloneness.  Maybe we need to join with all the organic gardeners and earth societies and green movements to simply focus on taking better care of this only home of human kind.  

  

Most of us know things that can be done:  stop using plastic bags and focus on using reusable bags and containers; stop using our automobiles as toys and use them as frugally as possible; recycle constantly and carefully; turn off everything when we’re not using it; avoid toxic chemicals on our lawns and gardens and farms and ranches that contaminate our land and water; look for and support green initiatives such as solar power and wind power and clean (or cleaner) fuels.  And there are so many ideas and suggestions constantly coming forward.  Maybe we can figure out how to channel flood waters away from a stricken area and toward a drought stricken area.  You know, like a gas pipeline, only with water.  And perhaps most important of all, we can plant something – a tree, a bush, a flower, some plant in a pot that will help clean the air. 

We seem to be so busy as a culture in worrying about the economy and money and politics and religion that, as important and vital as all these issues are to humankind, what good are these issues and even their resolutions going to be if we don’t have a survivable environment?   What earthly good?