October 17, 2022

The driest 90 days on record.

That amazing statistic caught my eye this week. Victoria recorded under 2 mm of rain since July 19. That is less moisture since record-keeping began in 1898. 

2 mm would barely cover the bottom of a child’s sippy cup. 

And yet some people deny that climate change is real. June and July were very wet so there is that…

We, as a society, continue our culture of consumption as if we have an unlimited supply of everything. It’s like nothing matters except immediate gratification. New bigger cars, phones, and houses seem to be the norm.

And the less fortunate are left behind.

There are more and more less fortunate in the world. The homeless population has been increasing as the cost of living skyrockets. 

And it has gotten exponentially worse since covid.

But the sun has shone almost every day since the middle of July – so there is that. When the sun shines so much we don’t realise that it brings its own set of problems. Drought is a real risk and the effects of climate change have begun to be felt all over the world.

The level of water in Lake Mead in the United States should be ringing alarm bells all over the place. The increase in intense storms on the Atlantic seaboard and the rapidly melting polar ice cap are other indications of a changing climate. 

And yet we continue on our self-destructive ways. 

I am part of the problem, I run a boat tour business that relies on fossil fuels to power my vessels. I live in the now like much of the rest of society.

Therein lies the conundrum. 

We can’t continue with our destructive ways but how do we stop them? I need to make a living as do so many people across the globe. Does planting my garden every year offset the carbon footprint of my gas-powered engines? Is the thought of that laughable? Yet that is what many large corporations do to assuage their guilt, they plant trees, and do other carbon credits to counter-balance the ill effects of their industry. 

There are no easy answers.

I am just one person on a planet of over seven billion, what can one person do? If we all do small things we can help change the world. Together we can make a difference.

None of this can help the devastating real-time effects of inflation that have taken place since 2020. I am at a loss to understand why. When the coronavirus struck the world I thought it had some good side effects. We stayed home, we spent less we used fewer carbon fuels and all came together in a common goal.

For about six months. Then it all spiralled out of control. 

Now we have record inflation, the cost of everything has soared into the stratosphere and everything is going up. Except for the wages of the working people. Sure the wealthy are getting richer by the second, but the rest of us are struggling to make ends meet. 

At least summer has lasted well into the middle of October. So there is that…

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2086374979985