I think we have about 4 generations left
I am not shouting this. But I think it may be so. And I know most
will ignore my Jerimiahed screed.
Humans have about 4 generations left on this planet. Not much more.
That puts it into the next century. There are plenty of serious
climate model scenarios described out to the year 2100. Some are not so bad, some are
horrible. Even the more optimistic views are predicated on very radical changes to our civilization to fight this. Something we are not doing in
the slightest. Not even started. No real plans. As David Letterman said recently about global warming,
“We
are so screwed”
So We Humans are pretty much doomed, but not Us Humans now. Right now everything is
pretty nice.
Beautiful
summer, plenty to eat, and for the most part, skies are clear and cool. . But climate destabilization is so
great, and carries such momentum, that we have long passed our opportunity to
effect change. Now, today all we can say is Adapt, Mitigate and Accept.
I really don’t want to stand on the corner in a hair shirt and sandals preaching
doom. Nobody wants to hear it. No one wants to spoil the party. And
it is not fun for me. Some want to stay oblivious for fun, some for
profit, and some because they really cannot face it. Many, many know it,
but carry on with civil grace, social acceptability, and economic momentum.
The internal debate I hold is about how I let that affect my life today.
Since I am 59 years old, I may not be facing much of the big problems that the future generations will be facing. We might figure that our grandchildren will be living in a world
that we cannot even imagine - if they are lucky. What do I owe them
in preparing and warning and accepting? If I cannot really change much, shouldn’t
I just shutup and be happy?
I suspect this is a very big debate. Philosophical, existentialist, grief
and everything you want to think about applies here. A much better debate, I think than anything else.
If we are genuinely concerned about our grandchildren and realize it's no longer "business as usual," for the human race, we'd be well advised to learn, and then teach, the skills "civilization" has all but forgotten: farming, hunting, gathering, weaving, etc. All the skills humans relied on for so many generations before fossil fuel took their place.