Tag Archives: Global Warming

Disorder

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Regarded honestly, our American (and now global) psycho-social political economic configuration and underpinnings have no capacity nor inclination to realistically address global warming, the concentration of wealth, economic and climate migration, drug addiction, homelessness, misogyny, gun violence, unending (and profitable) warfare, nor universal healthcare, yet capitalist enterprise continues to be held up as the human ideal and inevitable “way of the world”. The world of finance thrives in an ethos built on the use of all available resources, human and natural. This ecology, our relationship with the world around us, is uniquely adversarial, exploitive, and destructive. “The Market” is worshipped as an all-powerful god. Those benefiting from this state of affairs, corporate and individual, have no qualms about using all their privilege, power, and wealth to maintain the status quo. Maximum profit is the “Golden Rule” of modern corporate business. Throughout history, those drawn to the allure and trappings of power and wealth have dominated the distribution of community well-being. “Overlord” is an antique term, but it is the most accurate description of today’s sociopolitical economy. Whether this is human nature or a carefully crafted manipulation to enrich a small elite class is the question of the Ages.

-RP

Unseasonal Flooding in the World

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To the Editor:
With the flooding in Australia being described as “biblical” and a Congressman quoting scripture on the House floor and declaring his faith that God will not again destroy the earth, there is still clearly a need to clear up the understanding of global warming/climate change.  The simple chemistry of burning hydrocarbons is that water, carbon dioxide, and energy (originally from the sun) is released into the atmosphere.  The burning of fossil fuels is the release of water, carbon dioxide, and energy that have not been active on earth for millions of years.  Coal has more polluting components than natural gas, but the central dynamic is the same.
A continually rising level of CO2 in the atmosphere holds in more and more heat which then warms the oceans and melts polar and glacial ice, adding more water to the equation.  And not to be discounted is the addition of energy no longer buried deep within the earth.  The vital, dynamic exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere is becoming increasingly energized.  The occurance of unseasonal flooding, mudslides and severe weather is simply the earth finding a new equilibrium for these elements.
I would not like to say that we are now facing an angry, vengeful God (or gods), but the laws of physics are basically unrelenting and, like the people of Noah’s time, we are bringing this turn of events down upon ourselves.
Robert Porath