It really was cold last week! Once again I realized that I was simply too old for the cold. I, too, longed for some of that “global warming thingie” (1/13/10) when the garage thermometer hovered around minus four degrees. Most of us humans aren’t built for such frigid air.
As much as I enjoyed mimicking the possibility of the concept of “global warming” bringing us some relief here to McPherson, I knew that the real threat of “global warming” was much broader and much more ominous than our local discomforting chills. For some time, those who truly are knowledgeable about our climate, its shifts and shades of change, have been telling us that our “fragile earth, this island home” is steadily growing warmer. I’ve been shown photos of the peaks of the Peruvian Andes mountains without snow, and the resulting shortage of water increasing in the valleys. There have been scenes of great glaciers fragmenting, falling into the sea and shrinking causing the levels of sea water to rise, even to the point of flooding some low-lying heretofore habitable land. And some authorities have pointed to the “changing patterns of weather” throughout the world as a consequence of this global warming. And it seems all authorities point to the ever-growing production and expulsion of “green-house” gases into the atmosphere as the main culprit.
Further, these recognized and credentialed authorities have warned that if such warming continues unabated much of human life will be in jeopardy. Inhabited areas will be flooded; agriculture will be impacted with less food production; and civilized nations will suffer from shortages of fresh water, causing severe conflicts. These scenarios are conjecture and theory, but there is apparently enough evidence for persons of stature and prominence in their fields of study to risk their reputations on such ominous predictions.
And even if they are not totally accurate, the movement to cap corporations that foul the atmosphere while making big profits, or the call for stricter emission controls on overly large and unnecessarily powerful vehicles that pollute the air we breath, seem most appropriate. Together they form a carbon-dioxide blanket that enhances the warming of the whole planet. Limiting them seems like a good idea. I think everyone should strongly desire and vigorously work toward air that is fresh and free from debris. Such a unified effort could only enhance our living and perhaps even extend our lives, whether or not there is some sort of climactic catastrophe in the future.
I’m one who places much confidence in those “environmentalist, scientists, climatologists” who’ve earned, through their study and accomplishments, the right to speak with some authority on “global warming.” Should there dire warnings come true, I’ll most likely be long gone, as will most adults living today. And probably central Kansas will not be severely impacted during my lifetime. But as a liberal thinker, I care very much about what those who come after me will face. I believe we who live now must respect and respond to the “thoughtful warnings” of the specialists who seek the well being of the whole earth. It is our progeny who will be blessed or cursed by what we do. But as President John F. Kennedy said, “too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, rather than the discomfort of thought.” For the sake of our unborn generations, I hope we’ll endure the discomfort of thought.
Always hoping for clement weather and fresh air…
Fr. Bob Layne (Episcopal Priest –retired)
McPherson, Kansas
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It really was cold last week! Once again I realized that I was simply too old for the cold. I, too, longed for some of that “global warming thingie” (1/13/10) when the garage thermometer hovered around minus four degrees. Most of us humans aren’t built for such frigid air.
As much as I enjoyed mimicking the possibility of the concept of “global warming” bringing us some relief here to McPherson, I knew that the real threat of “global warming” was much broader and much more ominous than our local discomforting chills. For some time, those who truly are knowledgeable about our climate, its shifts and shades of change, have been telling us that our “fragile earth, this island home” is steadily growing warmer. I’ve been shown photos of the peaks of the Peruvian Andes mountains without snow, and the resulting shortage of water increasing in the valleys. There have been scenes of great glaciers fragmenting, falling into the sea and shrinking causing the levels of sea water to rise, even to the point of flooding some low-lying heretofore habitable land. And some authorities have pointed to the “changing patterns of weather” throughout the world as a consequence of this global warming. And it seems all authorities point to the ever-growing production and expulsion of “green-house” gases into the atmosphere as the main culprit.
Further, these recognized and credentialed authorities have warned that if such warming continues unabated much of human life will be in jeopardy. Inhabited areas will be flooded; agriculture will be impacted with less food production; and civilized nations will suffer from shortages of fresh water, causing severe conflicts. These scenarios are conjecture and theory, but there is apparently enough evidence for persons of stature and prominence in their fields of study to risk their reputations on such ominous predictions.
And even if they are not totally accurate, the movement to cap corporations that foul the atmosphere while making big profits, or the call for stricter emission controls on overly large and unnecessarily powerful vehicles that pollute the air we breath, seem most appropriate. Together they form a carbon-dioxide blanket that enhances the warming of the whole planet. Limiting them seems like a good idea. I think everyone should strongly desire and vigorously work toward air that is fresh and free from debris. Such a unified effort could only enhance our living and perhaps even extend our lives, whether or not there is some sort of climactic catastrophe in the future.
I’m one who places much confidence in those “environmentalist, scientists, climatologists” who’ve earned, through their study and accomplishments, the right to speak with some authority on “global warming.” Should there dire warnings come true, I’ll most likely be long gone, as will most adults living today. And probably central Kansas will not be severely impacted during my lifetime. But as a liberal thinker, I care very much about what those who come after me will face. I believe we who live now must respect and respond to the “thoughtful warnings” of the specialists who seek the well being of the whole earth. It is our progeny who will be blessed or cursed by what we do. But as President John F. Kennedy said, “too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, rather than the discomfort of thought.” For the sake of our unborn generations, I hope we’ll endure the discomfort of thought.
Always hoping for clement weather and fresh air…
Fr. Bob Layne (Episcopal Priest –retired)
McPherson, Kansas
