Saving Earth: Why Bother?

“International attempts at climate regulation have failed on a number of levels. With CO2 emissions rising much more than predicted between 2009 and 2010, the goal of capping global warming at a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius now seems elusive. But political interest in changing course has waned,” reports Der Spiegel, ending with a rather grim quote from Jochem Marotzke, head of the German Climate Consortium: “The laws of nature will continue to function without remorse no matter what mankind does or allows.” This is so very true that it seems unnecessary to even worry about anymore. There will be fire. There will be flood. There will be chaos and catastrophe. But they won’t happen all at once. By the time the evidence is so utterly incontrovertible that even the most ardent science-deniers of our age will be forced to admit that, yes, we did this to ourselves, they will be long dead and we won’t even have the satisfaction of mocking their memory, because we will be too busy trying not to be burned, eaten or drowned. It’s all going to end in agony, so you might as well enjoy yourselves while the whole thing plays itself out. If you’re one of the lucky ones you’re going to pass on before it all comes crashing down anyway (sorry, kids!) so what difference does it make if you crank the A/C instead of opening a window? Not that you’ll need to do either this weekend: we’re looking at brisk, sunny days as far as the eye can see. Yep, the future is bright. Have fun!

Photo by edenpictures, via Flickr