Some Interesting Things are Happening on This Planet.
Those of a certain age will remember a very popular TV commercial some years ago. In that commercial, a man offers Mother Nature a taste of something. She tries it and says, “Ah, yes, that is my natural, sweet butter.” To which the man replies, “Fooled you, Mother Nature. It’s [Brand X] margarine.” An angry Mother Nature says, “It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature,” as a terrible storm begins.
A Warning?
Sometimes it seems like we are living in that commercial. There are solid scientific reasons why natural phenomena go on violent rampage. After all, we knew that global warming and climate change would lead to extremes of the types we see today. And yet – sometimes it feels like more is at work in all this.
Hurricanes come earlier, build faster, and are phenomenally destructive. The mid-West experiences hundreds of tornados in a couple of days. Texas and other places are flooded out with torrential rains at record levels.
Thunder snow is almost common now. Hail storms come with hail as big as golf balls all around the world. When is it NOT fire season in California now? Even the animals are getting in on all this. Shark attacks have occurred in three areas in recent days (including my own state of NC) that almost never experience such events.
Readers of this blog enjoyed (I hope!) a posting not long ago about the secret life of trees. We are learning, as the science gets better, that there are remarkable forest communication networks. Information is passed, warnings of dangers are made, nutrition is shared.
We even have evidence that dying tress pass on their stored nutrients as a last act of giving. This has been referred to as the Wood Wide Web (get it?). And we are only starting to understand what is going on with all this.
For another excellent broadcast on this, listen in to Radio Lab on NPR, The Hidden Lives of Trees. https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/09/23/494989594/a-web-of-trees-and-their-hidden-lives
We Lost Our Way
Many ancient cultures and religions honor nature as a partner and our host. Native Americans, Pagans, Vikings, and others saw Nature as a conscious entity. The mythology of Gaia, a planetary intelligence fits this model very well.
The West in general, and Christianity specifically, lost that message. We fell in love with the idea of a manifest destiny to rule the earth. We stopped being stewards and started acting like owners. Careless owners at that. We, and the Earth, have been paying the price ever since.
The forest studies mentioned earlier give us a clue. What goes on under the floor of a forest looks for all practical purposes like a nervous system, even like a brain.
When your body has a wound or an infection, what does it do? It attacks the source of injury. Blood cells rush to the site and coagulate. Antibodies floods the area, trying to kill the infection. The whole bodily system strikes at the threat.
What if Nature, the planet, has decided that our species has become an unacceptable threat? What if we are beginning to see counter blows? Yeah, I know that sounds like bad science fiction, but…. There might be something going on here.
The continued planetary dominance of the human race is not a foregone conclusion. What if the natural system could formulate a view that we are the problem? I would not bet on our winning the resulting contest.
We are Not Inevitable
The evidence is mounting that the disasters of global warming are more imminent and even worse than we thought. And yet, we remain paralyzed by a lack of will. We have remarkably stupid people among our elites. They still – impossibly– think global warming is not a real thing.
Maybe we don’t deserve our place here. Someone else may have come to the same conclusion.
It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.
Bill Clontz
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Bill,
I also agree our continued existence is not inevitable. I have thought for years that Mother Nature will, eventually, even the score. We have continued to plunder and abuse the world and her gifts until now we are the parasite that needs to be kept under control.
Through our reckless use of antibiotics, pesticides and now GMOs, (among other things/actions) we are inevitably sealing our own future.
I have been a physician now for over 25 years. During that time I have not seen the overall condition of our population improving. Quite the contrary, our health and overall quality of life seems to be deteriorating. Mostly through our own folly.
This old world has been around far longer than humans. I do not believe She will allow us to totally destroy her in the end.
Rebecca Hammond
Tree huggers/admirers may be spiritual and knowledgeable than previously given credit. This Oklahoma spring has had more rainfall than I can remember. Not complaining yesterday and today our weather is coolly pleasant instead of hot/humid usually this time of year. I noticed a many years ago our Oklahoma winters were milder and a nice change from biting cold winters. Good we’re aware of climate changes and changing to reduce detriments to a healthy ecosystem. Working on being a green consumer of all things.