My Heidi Klum colleague has decided to no longer believe in climate change. She is once again cheerful and delighted with the world. She is making plans to surprise her son with a weekend trip to Palermo (one overnight stay, 4 hrs flight each way). It is such a relief, she tells me. I never really understood it anyway and now I have seen this youtube video that explains it so well, it's all a hoax!
I fiddle with some envelopes and politely return her smile. Oh, how I wish I could just join her and together we would clap our hands and shake our heads, how silly of us, all that stupid talk and ice melting and sea water rising and weather patterns and terrible disasters. Away with it.
Throughout the day, I watch the people I meet and I silently ask them, what do you think, do you worry, what do you tell your children, what do you teach them, are you afraid for their future and if so, why are we so numb?
But of course I am not going to say a word. When R starts to talk about Stephen Hawkins' latest lecture on the end of the human race in the next 100 years (maybe), I ask him to shut up for godsake and at night I dream of a massive clock ticking away over my head. 100 - 99 - 98 . . .
I must stop being so gullible.
I think it is so huge, this problem, that we, as individuals, feel hopeless and helpless to do anything about it. Well, that is how it is for me. And yes, I do so worry about the future of my children and their children.
ReplyDeleteNumb. Yes. I don't know why.
It is so tragic to me what we have done, and what we so thoughtlessly continue to do to the planet. Everyday everyday. The clock is ticking, and with seven billion people on the planet, I'm not sure that ticking can stop.
ReplyDeleteWe are once again assailed by heavy rains here, and working groups are being set up to talk about what to do - everyone talks about what to do. About flooding, about climate change. Trying not to remain utterly helpless and hopeless and numb. I find myself thinking end times thoughts - for this valley, for the possibility of human life on this planet altogether (didn't know what SH was saying...)
ReplyDeleteSometimes on a bad day I feel like joining that penguin.
ReplyDeleteOn a bad day I think we have all joined that penguin long ago.
ReplyDelete