Guardian writer: Apacolypse, Pretty Soon

[psychopomp]

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With eyes wide shut

Climate change threatens the future of humanity, but we refuse to respond rationally

George Monbiot
Tuesday August 12, 2003
The Guardian

We live in a dream world. With a small, rational part of the brain, we recognise that our existence is governed by material realities, and that, as those realities change, so will our lives. But underlying this awareness is the deep semi-consciousness that absorbs the moment in which we live, then generalises it, projecting our future lives as repeated instances of the present. This, not the superficial world of our reason, is our true reality. All that separates us from the indigenous people of Australia is that they recognise this and we do not.

Our dreaming will, as it has begun to do already, destroy the conditions necessary for human life on Earth. Were we governed by reason, we would be on the barricades today, dragging the drivers of Range Rovers and Nissan Patrols out of their seats, occupying and shutting down the coal-burning power stations, bursting in upon the Blairs' retreat from reality in Barbados and demanding a reversal of economic life as dramatic as the one we bore when we went to war with Hitler. Instead, we whinge about the heat and thumb through the brochures for holidays in Iceland. The future has been laid out before us, but the deep eye with which we place ourselves on Earth will not see it.

Of course, we cannot say that the remarkable temperatures in Europe this week are the result of global warming. What we can say is that they correspond to the predictions made by climate scientists...

...Paradoxically, the approach of this crisis corresponds with the approach of another. The global demand for oil is likely to outstrip supply within the next 10 or 20 years. Some geologists believe it may have started already. It is tempting to knock the two impending crises together, and to conclude that the second will solve the first. But this is wishful thinking. There is enough oil under the surface of the Earth to cook the planet...

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Strange days have found us, friends.

[morningglory]

1. I think the planet can kill us just before we kill it.

Think about all of us pooping in our drinking water. Some disease is sure to wipe most of us out before we can totally kill the environment. I grew up around the water where there were no laws about pollution and dumping. All the fish dissappeared out of our little bayou, then regulations came alone and the fish came back with a vengence.

[MadHound]

2. My philosophy on this

Do as much as I can to prevent this, both on a local and global level(write represenatives, papers, donate to green causes, etc. etc.) while preparing for the worst on a personal level. I'm in the process of buying a piece of acreage out in the country. I will install wind and solar power generators, along with a cistern system to collect rainwater, and other energy effecient systems. When or if this worst case scenario plays out, at least I'll be able to grow food, have potable water and a modicum of electric power. These preparations will hopefully allow me and my family to survive. The worst place to be is in an urban setting. As the old adage goes, a city is three days away from total anarchy at any given time(due to the amount of food, water, and other services available).

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. and who leads the largest industrial power at the moment?

the worst possible man history could ever have chosen.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. a must read "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn