30 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide A Year - That's A Lot!

I suppose James Lovelock (see previous post) could be wrong. No, not about climate change, I mean throw 30 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, and well, you know there will be a price to pay somewhere along the line.

So yes, a species that acts as if they own the place, that trashes it and doesn't look back, will probably end up reaping what they sowed. I guess there is some poetic justice in that.  A kind of a cosmic karma payback.

But maybe, somehow, someway, in the 11th hour the humans do something? Maybe a global change of consciousness, some kind of technological miracle, some amazing gizmo, something totally unexpected comes along and saves our bacon? A Deus Ex Machina? I mean it happened in Donnie Darko, right?!

It's a long shot. And there is a certain calm that comes with the thought that we actually can't or won't do a damn thing. Except face up to a much more hostile environment on earth. And if there is major dislocation, major flooding, major drought, epidemics, etc. will we blame god? Or our governments? Or ourselves? Will we ask, "What happened?"

It will be easy to locate the culprits. Still, like Lovelock, I am actually an optimist. I do believe in a better tomorrow. I must. You must believe. Just to get up in the morning. Life on this planet is a gift. And we just haven't treated it very well… and that's a shame. And what can we do? Live lightly on the land, with reverence and grace. Treat life on earth as a precious thing. Live that way, even if it means nothing in the grander scheme of things.