Breaking the Ice
Today I “broke the ice”. I substituted for a teacher-friend at the local high school. It’s not control of a classroom that’s the issue for me, it’s getting up and “at work” by seven in the morning. I know that sounds whiny; even to me. I spent an entire career at my desk by 6:30 am, often with a workout already done. But that was another era, almost a decade ago.
It’s not that I don’t get up. The dogs usually won’t let me sleep past seven anyway. But it’s just “jamming” my brain into gear that early in the morning. Whew – I can hardly consume enough coffee to make my head “go”. (And thank goodness they have a teacher’s restroom, every floor of every wing, when I do!)
So today was the first day of subbing for the 2023-24 school year. It’s good to see old friends, even good to see kids who don’t have a clue who I am. And good to know that I can still get through to them, even though I’m definitely the “old guy” in room 220.
Jeeping to School
On the drive in this morning, I did something “old fashioned”. Usually when I’m driving the Jeep (no top – it’s a beautiful morning), I’m “blue toothed” into my phone, listening to old rock and roll or MSNBC. But today for the short excursion to the new high school, I just listened to the “classic rock” radio station in town, Q-FM 96. And, as often is the case on morning drive, there wasn’t much classic rock at all. Instead, the hosts of the program were doing a kind-of comedy routine.
Now that routine is often off-color and usually amusing. But today I discovered how far politics has seeped into even this facet of life. The “morning crew” was taking segments from TV news and trying to develop humor from them. But when it came to the CNN coverage of Hurricane Idalia, it quickly dropped into something less than funny. CNN brought in an expert, who pointed out that the hurricane jumped from a Category One to a Category Three as it passed over the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The average temperature now is a record 88 degrees, two degrees above normal (WAPO), the same temperature of my “hot” tub turned “cool” tub for the summer.
Not Our Problem
The expert attributed the excessive temperature fueling the hurricane to climate change, and particularly global warming. He noted that until we reduce carbon emissions by using less fossil fuels, things will get worse.
The folks on the radio wanted none-of that, making fun of “climate change”. “We’ve always had hurricanes, and driving our cars doesn’t make a difference”. They noted that in the 1970’s environmentalists warned us about “acid rain”, and in the 1990’s about global ice melting, implying nothing bad happened. Since the “morning crew” didn’t see anything consequences, then this whole concern about global warming was something to laugh off.
Happening Now
So let’s go back to acid rain. This was a huge concern in the 1970’s, as US coal-fired power plants in the Midwest sent sulfur particles into the sky. Those mixed with rainwater to create a mild sulfuric acid, falling on eastern and northern soils and changing the crop and water conditions. It was a big deal that was ultimately resolved; first by using “low sulfur coal”, then “scrubbing” emissions for the sulfur particles, and later by removing most coal fired power plants and switching to other fuels. The problem didn’t “go away” and we didn’t learn to live with it – we fixed it.
And the warning from the 1990’s about ice melting hasn’t changed. The North Pole ice cap is now fragmented, with clear passage around Canada available year-round. The Greenland ice cap is thinning, as are the main glaciers in the European Alps and the Rocky Mountains. And even in Antarctica, many of the glaciers are quickly dissolving. It’s all because of global warming.
And what’s the problem there? The oceans are rising, with coastal cities becoming more vulnerable to flooding. Check out Miami, Florida today. Even on a normal rain shower the streets flood. Or the US military, spending billions to defend coastal bases, not from a looming enemy, but from rising water levels. Water temperature worldwide is also rising, fueling the unusual intensity of weather events. It’s a “slow motion” crisis, easy to put off, just as we’ve been doing since the 1990’s and even earlier. But, as the old saying goes, we are starting to “pay the piper” now.
Outside the Studio
The “morning crew” made fun of environmentalists. “How dare they suggest we need to move away from fossil fuel, from burning gasoline in our cars and natural gas at our power stations. Look, they been warning us for years, and nothing bad has happened yet: Ha, Ha, that crazy Al Gore!”
Don’t tell that to the folks who live on the “nature coast” of Florida, hit by their first hurricane in the past hundred years. Or the farmers in the drought and flood cycle of the American West, raising the price of produce for the entire nation; or those in “tornado alley”, now facing extra months of risk and damage. Or the rangers at Glacier National Park – the glacier itself is disappearing.
Climate change is real, it’s happening, and it’s impacting our lives right now. And that’s just not very funny. Wish they’d just play the Stones: “Painted Black” comes to mind.
