God and Country
by PHIL JONES
For the first time this entire summer, I am not experiencing rain envy. That’s the Freudian term for that feeling of exasperation you get, when you are studying the Doppler, and you see that your neighbors in Austin, Dripping Springs and San Marcos have all gotten healthy amounts of rain, while once again, you have gotten no more than a trace – if that much – here in the Buda Triangle, as our friend Joanne calls it. What mysterious force causes solid lines of showers to split and go around us?
For the first time in months, I can look at an 8-day forecast with nothing but sunshine, without feeling that cloying sense of frustration and impending despair that has been my constant companion all summer long. The cloudless blue October skies, and the dry, somewhat cooler air are very welcome. I can take a walk, and see numerous trees brushing against power lines, without worrying – at least for the next few days – that one of them will lean a little too hard, and set off a raging fire in the idyllic forest where the wife and I and so many of our friends live. Lord knows, there are plenty of trees and shrubs out here that are so dried up they amount to little more than giant match sticks. Our neighbors in Bastrop, Cedar Creek and Steiner Ranch are only too familiar with what I mean. For another week, I can put off the task of packing an emergency bag and making a prioritized list of things to grab in case a sudden evacuation is necessary.
To say this summer has been brutal would be an understatement. By now you have probably heard that in the approximately 125 years that records have been kept, this summer is the hottest. Ever. If it were just one isolated summer, like 1925, that would be one thing. But the fact is, of the five hottest summers on record, four have occurred in the past five years. Not only that, but we have experienced drought in three of the last five years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change having concluded in 2007 that global warming is indeed a reality, and human activity is indeed a contributing factor, it is more than fair to wonder: is this the new normal?
According to the Washington Post, by 2025, about 5 billion of us here on earth will experience periodic water shortages due to drought. That figure is currently about 1.7 billion, so we are looking at a tripling of the number of people affected by scarcity of this most basic of life-giving resources. There are only about 7 billion of us on earth right now, so these shortages will affect the vast majority of all earth’s inhabitants – including the animals and plants who form our food supply. That includes the crops and livestock that provide the livelihood for farmers and ranchers. According to National Geographic, China, Mexico, Spain, Poland and Saudi Arabia are already low to severely low on water, and that condition is spreading across the globe. (www.global-warming-forecasts.com/water-supply-shortage-water-scarcity-climate.php).
And water scarcity is just one of the effects of climate change that is already occurring. Rising sea levels, increased severity of storms, flooding, species extinction and disease are among a short list. For a simple, one-page synopsis, visit National Geographic at http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/.
As for me, these past five summers have made me a believer in global warming. If you don’t yet believe, let me just ask you this. How big a risk are you willing to take? In the face of all this overwhelming evidence, and the consensus in the scientific community, are you willing to continue to risk roasting your children and grandchildren alive, in what could very well be a preventable, man-made hell?
I know this much for pretty sure: summers around here are definitely getting hotter.
