It’s a plus 2 Celsius December day in northern Ontario, 11 degrees warmer than the average high for this day. The UN Climate talks in Doha Qatar continue for the rest of this week, not that you would know that they were going on if you read the mainstream Canadian media. They are missing in action on this global event, following the lead of our current federal government. Apparently Canadians aren’t demanding any better, from either our government or our media. I guess we are going to have to go even nearer the climate cliff than we are already, before we change our planet- and future-destroying ways.
But there’s still so much beauty in our world. Right now the chickadees, nuthatches, and pine grosbeaks are gathered around the bird feeder outside my window, having a sunflower seed feeding frenzy. The beautiful red of the male grosbeaks are a perfect match for the Christmas music playing in the background (yes, I DO play Christmas music all of December!).
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If you want to read how badly things are going in Doha, head over to Joe Romm’s blog on Think Progress. This is today’s headline: As Global CO2 Emissions Rise, Scientists Warn 2-Degree Target Is Nearly Out Of Reach: ‘We Need A Radical Plan’. Meanwhile, the Guardian’s headline reads: Carbon credits row could derail UN climate talks, says Brazil. The Star, the only Canadian paper that tries to present a balanced approach to global warming, published “Heat-trapping Pollution On the Rise, Threatens Goal of Limiting Global Warming” . The article quotes Dr. Glen Peters from the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway on the solution to global warming:
“The only way, Peters said, is to start reducing world emissions now and “throw everything we have at the problem.”
…Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria who was not part of the study, said: “We are losing control of our ability to get a handle on the global warming problem.”
The world needs radical lovers to address our spiritual and ecological crises, people who will throw everything they have at the problem.If not now, then when? The end of civilization as we know it is within sight; the oceans turn to acid, the polar ice caps melt, western forests burn dry as kindling from native pests surviving in warmer and warmer winters, First Nations are poisoned by fish turned toxic by tar sands pollution.
I’m in for choosing life over the slow death of muffling my voice that wants to cry out in pain and anguish at what we are doing to our earth and to our children. I’m done with deadening the pain in my heart with distractions that society prefers me to busy myself with – tv, food, shopping, alcohol, sex, and so on. It will be a wild ride, but I’m in. And you?
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December 1st marked the day 57 years ago that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the white section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sending out a spark that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Her courage and conviction are an inspiration to us now, as we take on the “Great Work” of our generation.
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And in case you were wondering, yes there are things we can do to make a difference for future generations; it is not too late: Four Reasons To Hope We Can Still Avert The Worst Impacts Of Climate Change.