State of Our World: Open_Notes 13

human suffering, political upheaval, and ecological destruction is looming within the threat global warming - in the last 10 years science, in a wonderful display of the scientific method, has removed all doubt against global warming; it is FACT - the basic parameters of the earths biology and physics has been changed by man - the early signs of warming [we are about 25% of the way into the warming] are here: 1. rainfall and severe storms are increasing; a 20% change in a few decades [increased energy introduced into a system and expressed] 2. the very progress of the seasons has begun to change; on average spring arrives seven days sooner and winter arrives four days later in the northern hemisphere; vegetation zones moving 3. such shifts in climate and weather are triggering even more dangerous effects, ie., polar ice thickness decreasing; 40% in the last two decades; salinity in the oceans changed as a result; polar currents to the tropics being changed, the heat exchange; sea levels rising, warm water occupies more space than cold; population shifts, environmental refugees threatening.

the 1990s economic boom, an incantation, the enchantment [growth; more is better] of global commerce vs. alternatives, ie., reduction in the use of fossil fuels; spending less [standard of living]; our behavior, attitudes must change, ie., politics is what it is, etc. -- ["wealth-authority" must be challenged, made worthless, non-existent (nothing matters but money); we must wake up as the perils around us increase !! -- we must take a different path vs. the human nature argument (nourished and nurtured by the corporate)] - human nature is not one dimensional, more is not better [a world drained of its wonder, its relationship; impoverished]; it is *only us* out here [not someone else out there; we are the someone else]; the glory of God [the story of Job; God tours the universe, His creation - where were you when I did all this? - man is but a moment, yet we commit crimes against the future; we *preempt* the lives of our children; we commit crimes against the past, we are stewards, heirs of the past and future] -- Global Warming is the preeminent challenge of our day; massive damage looming - resistance to the conventional wisdom and pattern must increase, ie., better economics, applied wisdom [protests, simple living, withdrawal], etc., economic health vs. environmental health is *madness*, [only God can/will provide the HEALING] !! -- *our role in consumption* must cease [consumerism as religion] or we will; [we are consuming, sacrificing ourselves, our children on the false altar]; the question is not "who wants to be a millionaire?" but "who wants to be a human being?" -- [based on NPR, Alternative Radio, "Consumerism and Global Warming", Phil McKibben, author "Hope: Human and Wild" and "The End of Nature", Sep.09.00, [with inserts]]

State of Our World: Open_Notes 13