The horrific tornado that destroyed Moore, Oklahoma is one of those events that leaves all of us feeling sad and vulnerable. It is also a grim reminder of how dependent we are – all of us – on nature. Life truly is connected in obvious and subtle ways. When a storm hits or an earthquake turns a city into rubble, we know this, at least for a moment, but too often we then move on without taking the time to think about what it means for everything on this planet to be interconnected.
Taking the time is what those focused on environmental issues are asking our nation and the world to do because they believe that once we realize how interconnected everything is, people will become more committed to making the changes we all must make individually and collectively to stop the destruction we as humans are causing. I have great admiration for the thousands of people who spend every day of their lives studying what is going on in order to help us understand what global warming and climate change are all about. There are just as many others who are working locally, nationally, and internationally to get people and governments to change their behavior.
One of those people is James Balog, an environmental photographer who went to the Arctic on an assignment sponsored by National Geographic to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. The result of his years of work is the amazing documentary film, Chasing Ice. This is a sobering documentation of the impact of global warming on the world’s glaciers and the climate change that impact is producing all around the world. How he was able to capture this story in photographs is itself worthy of viewing (it took a herculean effort), but the absolute and irrefutable documentation his photographs represent is the real story. See it and you will never doubt global warming again.
Beyond the photographs that show unequivocally that the ice caps are melting at a rapid rate, Chasing Ice puts to rest any doubt about the role of human beings in what is happening. Scientists have extracted ice cores from glaciers that tell the history of climate much the way rings tell the age of a tree. By analyzing gas bubbles trapped in these ice cores, they have determined the amount of carbon dioxide that was in the air during different periods in history, dating thousands of years back. These cores conform a dramatic increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air since the beginning of the industrial age, and especially in the last fifty years. It is possible that we have already reached the point of no return, that the extreme weather we are seeing is the new normal. What happened in Moore happened in Joplin almost two years ago, after all. There may be more devastating tornados before fall arrives, and then we might see even more highly intense hurricanes.
But we humans are resourceful. We can do more than wait for bad things to happen. Each of us can try to reduce our own footprint on nature. We can buy hybrid vehicles, use less energy, consume less and recycle more, and even demand that our political leaders enact public policies that will make things better rather than worse. There are many things each of us can do. Alone they will not make much difference, but in aggregate they may not only change the world for the better. They may save the planet.
At least we can make the effort – all of us – because when it comes to the environment, it really is one for all and all for one. Life is interconnected. But this is not news. In words more eloquent than mine 17th century poet John Donne said as much when he wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
I suppose the question not only is, “Do we hear it?” but do we understand why we should.
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Not quite ready yet to hear Moore used as a pretext for a global warming statement. I share your concern for global warming, but I still have those children in my mind.
Wayne, I understand your point. It just wasn’t my intention to use Moore and global warming was not primary point. That we are a part of one another was, and what happens to one happens to all of us.
Thanks for this one, Jan; timely. Monica and I just saw this film Friday and we too “felt” it! Your suggestions of how we can each act more respectfully and responsibly to shrink our carbon footprints are well made and correct. (Google the new Tesla S electric car, 99 of 100 points from Consumer Guide. But, like hybrids too pricey.) We also need to know and support alternative power sources for generating electicity since coal is the number one source of CO2. We all need to demand transitioning from coal ASAP. Your most important point, however, is for everyone to “feel” connected not only to everyone else but to the earth itself! This can’t be just intellectual! Until then, just as Jesus tried to teach us that we are brothers who’s commonality resides in one Creator, nothing will change! Since the entire planetary civilization is currently acting the complete opposite of that it might just take these horrific lessons, and they are CURRENT LESSONS, from Mother Earth to wake us all up! We can’t change what we don’t acknowledge.
I wish our elected officials would take off their blinders, but unfortunately they are not. Virginia and North Carolina along with several other states have passed or will pass a penalty for those people who own electric or hybrid cars. North Carolina is attempted to roll back its landmark green legislation. It is possibly to late but we the people must try, starting with electing people who have a modicum of reasoning capabilities and will at least listen to what the environmentalist are saying.
Beautifully written, Jan. I, personally, am able to wade through all the political stuff that goes on, and constantly come back to the necessity of helping each other and being active in/ a part of whatever community one lives in.
Well spoken words that we all need to listen to and heed. Unfortunately, I have little hope that our political leaders will enact policies that will make things better rather than worse.. They seem to be fully occupied fighting among themselves and trying to destroy each other. I seriously doubt that they have much real concern for what happens to America, and even the world, in the meantime.